NOVEMBER Vegetable Garden Tour - Plus what to plant now! Spring Gardening in Melbourne, Australia

[@utilityjane]

Hi Christie! I have been growing raspberries for many years now and I still get a rush of excitement every year when the raspberries come out of dormancy. We are in central Victoria and are picking them every day. And after a bad few years it’s a good year for tomatoes, I’m growing Black Russian, black cherry, Juan flamme, chocolate Tasmanian and san Marzano, can’t wait till we are eating home grown again 💚

[@ChristieCooper]

So much fun! Glad to hear how well it’s all going this year! My boysenberries are starting to deepen in colour now too 🎉

[@utilityjane]

@ ohhh I have never grown them, I need more space! I did plant some golden raspberries last year so really looking forward to autumn when they should fruit. Enjoy your berries 💚

[@HelenH]

I love the "anyone can" garden!!! 💚💚

[@ChristieCooper]

Me too ;)

[@GardenHappy]

Well, your garden is absolutely beautiful. It looks like it’s just getting started even though it’s November. So interesting how weather and different locations around the world can affect our gardens. I’m so happy for you. You live in a little paradise a little slice of heaven. 💙💚💛💜❤️💜 Liz from California

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks Liz, and welcome from the other side of the globe! Things must be seriously cooling down where you are! Appreciate the lovely comments.

[@MerriCreek_RunsThroughCoburg]

7:00 re birds eating fruit, I used the onion bags that come from the supermarket, tied with a little string & they worked well last year.

[@ChristieCooper]

That’s definitely worth a try! Thanks!

[@bernbee1679]

Oh you have flowers and fruit already on your tomatoes! I love Black Russians, they’re my favourite tomatoes and I can’t wait for mine to grow. Lucy is so cute 🥰

[@ChristieCooper]

I definitely went early in the tomatoes this year but thankfully they’ve made it through ok! I’m sure yours will be flowering soon with this warm weather coming ☺️

[@ausfoodgarden]

Great tour Christie. Your tomatoes are way further on than mine, you lucky thing. I'm growing 4 zucchini plants vertically this year too. Cucumbers work well that way so I'm sure zucchini will. Those carrots do look like too much Nitrogen, although I'm no carrot expert. If you have beets in similar conditions and they are not fattening up - yep too much N. Lovely to see your littlies smiling in the video. I have 3 grand nieces and nephews and it's "Uncle Gerry what's this one? Can we eat it now?" Awesome stuff.😊

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks for all the tips Uncle Gerry! It's so much fun seeing the kids enjoy it, isn't it. Where are you based? Best of luck with your Zucchinis!

[@ausfoodgarden]

@@ChristieCooper Just East of Melbourne city, not far from Reground.😊

[@chezelleconroy2951]

“Definitely my latest impulse purchase… no plan for the blueberries” 😂 I love it!

[@ChristieCooper]

C'mon Chezelle, give me some ideas and inspiration here! Also we have Conroys in our family, don't suppose you're from South Australian? We might be distant relatives haha.

[@willowgirl2635]

Get some tulle bags or stockings onto those Berries or the birds will eat them. I’ve grown Blackberries for years and it’s always a battle. Best thing in your garden is that precious baby, so adorable. Great tour. I really enjoy watching a fellow Victorian from same time zone and climate. We call the bugs Harlequin bugs.

[@ChristieCooper]

Hadn't thought of stockings! Thanks! Have you grown blackberries in the ground or in pots? How long do you think they'll last in that sized pot for? Thanks for the lovely feedback :)

[@kristyperry-q9y]

Ur carrots ain't wasted if they fail, those expenses green powders are just made of dried Carrot tops cos they have like 6 times the amount of vitamins as the actual orange part cos it's just the energy storage unit . We Air dry them for a week then blend them into powder and sprinkle it into dinner so the kids dnt notice (I do about a tea spoon) so it lasts for ages . Hope that's helpful for the next time or compost is another good option . Or pop in a bucket with water n a lid n fill with water n in 2 weeks u will have liquid fertiliser.

[@ChristieCooper]

That is such a great tip! I'll definitely keep that in mind next time.

[@jackiek4159]

Your garden is looking so good Christie! 😍🙌💚🍓

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks Jackie! I've been really enjoying it recently!

[@MerriCreek_RunsThroughCoburg]

They look like Harlequin beetles- we’ve got them everywhere & they appear every spring. They suck the juice from fruit & are very hard to beat. Gardening Australia had a story about using soap suds as they have a hard outer shell & are impossible to spray. 🤷‍♀️

[@af2313]

I second harlequin bugs

[@ChristieCooper]

I'll have to try to find that Gardening Australia story, thanks!

[@ggauche3465]

Every garden and every gardener is different. I enjoy watching your garden exploration and discoveries. CDs, mirrors and such never worked for me in discouraging birds from berries. Berries are so irresistible to birds, they will always find a way. Careful netting is the only thing that has worked for me; careful as in make sure there are NO holes or gaps. Good luck. PS Add a little vermiculite to your potting mix, or to the top of your seed pots to help to keep them moist. 😀

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks for the tips! I was checking out a friend's berry set up recently and he tied golfballs to the corners of his nets to make them easy to lift up yet constantly weighted down, I thought that was quite clever!

[@leannewith3]

I’m in Melbournes East as well. We have a Mulberry tree (which is covered in fruit), Raspberries and Blueberries. Hoping for lots of fruit this year, our trees are looking good so far. Glad to hear Broccoli will still grow now. We planted it too late and are still waiting for it to form.

[@ChristieCooper]

Any tips you’ve learnt from previous seasons? Do you have them in the ground or in pots? Longer term I’d like to set up a dedicated spot for them!

[@leannewith3]

@ we have the raspberry plants in a separate garden bed as they spread. They are actually along the front of our house as they don’t mind a decent amount of shade. We tried blueberries in the ground but never got fruit, we find pots much better. I read recently that having 2 different blueberries will cause them to get more fruit, it seems to be working so far.

[@PatriciaKenny-c9c]

Tip on thornless blackberry bush. I live in Ballarat. The blackberry grow like crazy on wire trellis and I can’t completely rid of the ‘babies’ that keeps popping up even after 2 plus years of having to get rid of the parent plant as it was blocking sunlight on my lemon tree. Just make sure you plant it away from other plants. By the way, love your garden

[@ChristieCooper]

This is really helpful thank you Patricia! Any thoughts on how well they grow in pots and whether they'll need to be relocated to something bigger? I'm reluctant to put them into the ground for this exact reason. Also any thoughts on why they might not be fruiting yet? Would it be a soil acidity thing?

[@PatriciaKenny-c9c]

@@ChristieCooper Believe me the roots system is so long and goes everywhere that the biggest pot won’t contain it(that’s my humble opinion)and I only had the parent plant in soil for no more than 4 years and it was flourishing like mad. Just cow manure and forget it. Generally, fruit trees takes a year or 2 to fruit once in ground, gardener in nursery told me

[@gerkinsaregreen]

With the potatoes let the tops die back, and stop watering them to let the soil dry out, dig out your spuds and put them in a dark, cool place to harden the skin. Then you can store them like normal. If you nick the skin, use the potato straight away. Well done lovely.

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks for the tips! I tried to harvest them today - you can see the not-so-impressive results in the video I just posted haha.

[@MerriCreek_RunsThroughCoburg]

1:00 Well done Lucy! I hope you’re sleeping through the night if you’re reneging on your daytime naps! 😉

[@ChristieCooper]

Ohh if only 😅

[@Charles00-xj3kz]

The potatoes in pots look like they are an indeterminate variety given how tall they are growing. Spuds are generally harvested when the plant flowers/ when the tops start to die back. Bit of Lattitude with harvesting.

[@ChristieCooper]

I didn't even know there was determinate and indeterminate potatoes! thanks for the intel!

[@organicgardentips123]

Nice garden

[@ChristieCooper]

Thank you!

[@justinarnold7725]

Plant corn or maize in the parts of the garden where you think you have too much nitrogen they are heavy nitrogen feeders and will pull out nitrogen out of your and into the plant and you grow other plants around the base or cut the corn down before it fruits and plant something else

[@ChristieCooper]

Thanks Justin, this is a great idea. I have some corn seedlings I might put into that part of the garden. Have you had any problems with birds pulling out your corn seedlings and any tips on how to overcome that?

[@justinarnold7725]

@ChristieCooper We get thirsty Curawongs that do this all the time with seedlings to drink the water out them, we put some bowls of water and put those XL Bunnings seedlings trays the two foot X one foot upside down over them for a well or twountil they are established, they still get light and water but the birds can't pull them out

[@kerrilyno9231]

You can make carrot top pesto

[@ChristieCooper]

Ooh… is that nice? I’ll be honest I can’t imagine it tasting great!

[@francescant4191]

@@ChristieCooperI made carrot pesto last year with the tops as I had the same problem as yours…I didn’t want to waste the tops so I googled how can I used the tops …saw a good recipe and I made it…my children loves it in the pasta that I cooked.😊

[@ChristieCooper]

I’ll have to give it a go! Thanks!

[@handwritten47]

My radish looks exactly like your carrots. Yep definitely too much Nitrogen / you pour too much Seasol solution

[@ChristieCooper]

Shouldn’t have put them next to the garlic as I’ve been giving the garlic a liquid fertiliser which would have been spreading over. Ah well - lessons learnt for next time!

[@imightbejenna]

My carrots came out just like yours! Never had good luck with them as I feed my soil too well 😅 I've cleared them out now to make way for summer veg! 🍅🌽

[@ChristieCooper]

Glad I’m not alone! I’ve only ever had success with carrots when I’ve grown them in a pot and given them nothing but water. I think I made a mistake here having them next to garlic as I fertilised the garlic frequently!

[@bernbee1679]

Sorry to tell you but your daisies from your neighbour look like gazanias which are considered an environmental weed in Victoria 😢

[@ChristieCooper]

This is very good intel! Thank you, I’ll start reading up about gazenias!

[@traceyh8660]

Hello. Just a query re gazanias.....why do all the nurseries sell them if it's a weed here? Or is it councils that say they are a weed and so no authority to stop the selling of....

[@bernbee1679]

@ not sure I know there was a big controversy about Bunnings selling them here in Victoria.

[@tomhackman8115]

which city are u in ?

[@ChristieCooper]

Melbourne ☺️

[@BuiDuong_TV]

"Hello everyone, let’s greet each other warmly!

[@ChristieCooper]

Hello BuiDong TV! It is so fabulous to meet you. I hope you have a glorious day.