It's been a while since my last garden update.

To be honest, it's so much harder to capture the garden's growth now that the plants are all spread out. Gone are the days where I could show you guys how each bag is going all in one tidy photo.

Hell, I can't even draw the veggie patch. I always seem to run out of room on my page so that is still in the works.

Another hold up has been this..

I started this sheet weeks ago with an idea for a blog about it but it has since grown into more than just a quick overview. Once I got cracking I found myself adding more columns which meant going back to my research pages and looking up the info that I didn't think I was going to need until I changed my mind... Anyway... long story short, the spreadsheet is also in the works.

In the meantime, while I've been stuffing around with the drawing and the spreadsheet things have been moving along quite nicely in the garden. So nice, the animals have caught on and have been helping themselves.

The new photo-op groups

(Best viewed on mobile so you can zoom in.)

The Salad Greens

One of the beautiful things about permaculture is the way their designs flow naturally and the careful way they plan their garden like placing chicken coops close to the house (because they need regular care) or how its recommended coops be placed on the high side of a slope so the manure can flow down and fertilize the garden naturally; or just simple common sense and placing the things you will eat the most of or needs the most care closest to you.

This is pretty much what we did. We decided to plant the salads in the space closest to the deck, within easy and quick access from the kitchen.

This is the busiest section of our veggie garden and has a lot of things we consume on a regular basis which was one of the deciding factors when we picked this spot for it. I was concerned I would lose more lettuce seedlings (like I did when we set the bags up) but I haven't, in fact the lettuces are doing amazing, along with the rocket and chives.

This was them all small and happy, squished together in a bag.

Companions

In terms of companions, the chives (pest control) and marigold (pollinator) are the only ones pulling their weight here. Sadly the basils just didn't make it (RIP)

As far as pests are going.. If you zoom in on momma lettuce you'll see holes on the leaves. If you zoom in on the right hand side of the baby broccoli you'll see half the leaf missing.

Where the bloody hell is that garden cam?

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Tomat-row

aka Hubby's Babies, are thankfully doing awesome. This was his main thing, his tomatoes. "I gotta have my tomatoes Bear." he says. Well you got it!

That Black Russian one is unstoppable, it's fierce and it's claiming it's garden space quick smart. It's actually the main reason we had to get out of the bags asap, and now it seems it needs even more space.

The Tommy Toes are doing great despite one late bloomer over on the left. We bought bamboo sticks when we bought the mulch and though we propped sticks up, we forgot to do the last plant and it looks a bit, how you going... There has been many many flowers on these plants but I've yet to see a baby tomato pop up.

The beans, flanked by the tomatoes had a close shave last week when I stupidly watered the garden in full sun on a 30 something degrees day. It burnt most of the leaves, and I wasnt sure it was going to make it, but it recovered very well. Better than the basil anyway.

This is what the basil looked like before...

Sure it wasn't exactly doing awesome, but it was alive which is more than I can say now. I really don't know what happened, but they didn't look like proper basil anyway so I'm not too bothered.

Companions

The basil being dead means I have no pest control in this section. I have the beans which should be pumping nitrogen into the soil ~ which could explain why the black russian and the tomato plants closest to it is taking off, and the tomato plant furthest away isn't growing as fast.

Even though you can't really see it in the photo, the section is sandwiched between pollinators.

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Eggplantia

Have I told you guys I love LOVE LOVE eggplants? If Hubby can have a row of tomatoes, I can't see why I can't have a row of eggplants 😍

With the exception of the snow peas, this is a perennial section, meaning they should all keep growing and re-growing year after year. Whereas the salad section is mostly annuals and some will need replanting next year, maybe even sooner.

I got the asparagus I wanted and so far it seems to be working out/alive, I'm not sure what I'm meant to be on the look out for though. I figured when they're ready I should be able to identify the asparagus, right now it's just too young and bushy to tell which is which.

Here's a close up of the last remaining capsicum.

You can see something's going on with it 😒. It's also not ready yet, as big as it is right now, we are still waiting for it to turn red.

I was hoping we would get more capsicums considering how many flowers we had prior to moving it, but nada. Hubby and I are going to have to share this one, what's left of it anyway.

Companions

As usual I have my Marigolds nearby - this has become an important feature in my garden. Not only does it add beauty, it also encourages pollinators to visit my crops.

The name Eggplantia should have clued you in that the main focus here are the Eggplants and I have planned everything around them. Their main companion is the capsicum although it is in convenient distance to the tomatoes, another suitable companion.

The snow peas should also help but it looks like it's got it's own problems right now. I pray for it.

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Flower Power

Located furthest from the deck are the Bees and Butterfly Mix and French Marigold seedling I planted weeks ago. I didn't know if they were ready to go in ground but I figured Mother Nature doesn't use seedling trays so....

I'm as excited about these as I am about the food in the garden actually and I'm so happy at how fast they're growing.

No companions here as it's just a flower growing section. Once they're all grown and I can identify each one I will spread them across the garden filling out gaps.

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Bobs' Batch

This is a new addition to the garden. Previously it ended with the Alyssums, but after an impromptu trip to Bunnings, we added half a meter to accommodate a new Basil plant, Strawberries and Rosemary.

And so because it's right down the back, we placed Bob here to keep an eye on things.

The Basil was a must, losing all the other Basils meant I am down a lot of pest control plants and apparently you can make more basil out of one basil plant so... I've already started propagating the Basil. I wasn't sure if it was going to work but it did so I'll show you guys the progress and other garden experiments I'm doing at the moment.

There is also a dead Mint plant next to Bob that I totally forgot about, but I'm propagating those right now too.

I'll tell you guys all about it later!

Before I go, check this out.

Me this morning...

In awe while hoping they don't attack the garden 😁

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

🌻 Arly

🍀 All pictures taken on my Samsung Note 8 🍀

Previously in the Black Thumb Chronicles..

Reclaiming our views | Companion and Lasagna Gardening | Hello Lasagna Bag Garden | Permaculture, Food Forests & Tree Guilds | Weekend Gardening Part 1 | Weekend Gardening Part 2 | Weekend Gardening Part 3 | Day 5 | Day 12 | Stage 2 of the lasagna and bursting bag gardens | Perennials vs Annuals | 41 days towards garden glory | Good Bye Bag Garden, Helloooo Veggie Patch! | Rainy Day Photography | Gnome Crazy