Late autumn, early winter is the perfect time to plant garlic in Melbourne (Australia). These photos are from our container garden last year’s crop. I also planted some garlic in our community veggie patch, a bit later, so if one batch fails, there is a back up. Luckily, both crops succeeded and we still have our garlic.

The photo above was taken on May 20th 2010. The garlic was planted at the beginning of May and you can see the progress below. This year’s crop is already planted, but it’s not too late to plant your garlic as I read that winter solstice (21st June in southern hemisphere) is a good time to plant garlic here in Melbourne and expect the harvest on the longest day (summer solstice).

Garlic is a slow maturing crop, but one worthwhile planting. It will take about 5-8 months till maturity however, it doesn’t require a lot of space or care. This pot (about 30cm in diameter) had 18 bulbs of garlic. In the veggie patch, I planted it around the edges so it’s not in the way when the winter crop gives way to summer varieties.

How to grow garlic

• Garlic can be planted in the garden or in pots in full sun
• Soil should be well drained, loose and enriched with compost and organic manure (chicken manure is good)
• For pot planting use premium potting mix with slow release fertiliser
• Break the bulbs (preferably organic) and plant 5cm deep with pointy end up
• Space cloves 10 cm apart
• Cover the hole and keep it moist but not wet – too much water can cause fungal disease, prolonged dry will produce small bulbs
• Keep weed-free: garlic doesn’t compete well with the weeds
• You can eat green garlic when the bulbs aren’t formed yet together with its still tender green leaves

When to harvest garlic

• Garlic takes up to 6 months to mature
• When you see the foliage turning yellow and drying, but still have a few green leaves in the middle, dig around one bulb to see if it has formed
• Stop watering a couple of weeks before harvest
• Use a small garden shovel to dig the bulbs rather than pulling them
• Let the bulbs dry in the shade for about 2 weeks
• Rub off dried dirt from bulbs, trim roots and braid them to hang or
• Cut off the leaves and store in a cool airy and dry place in a mesh bag (not in the fridge as it causes the garlic to sprout)
• Leave the best bulbs for next season planting

Organic garlic is much tastier and quite expensive to buy ($40 a kilo) so it’s worthwhile growing. Find out what is the best time to plant garlic in your corner of the world and give it a go.

The garlic we grew in our urban garden is a smaller bulb variety with lightly purple skin and a superb flavour.  We bought it from a garlic grower at a local farmers market, but forgot to ask what variety of garlic it is.

12th June 2010:

8th August 2010: Green Garlic can be eaten now

10th November 2010:

13th December 2010:

13th December 2010:

24th May 2011: Last year’s crop in our kitchen

Finally, after more than one year since applying for a plot in the local community garden, we’ve got one!  Coincidentally, we received the news on the day Sustainable Echo was celebrating its first birthday.  It felt like a real anniversary present for us.

A few years ago, the waiting period was much shorter as the turnout was quicker.  Nowadays, people are committing to their community garden plots.  Our application was timely because the waiting list grew longer and longer so much so that no applications are accepted for a year till June 2010.  Also, to accommodate the interest, all full plots that become available are split into two half plots.

Our small veggie patch at home is just not big enough for us.  We gave up more than a half of it to our three chickens and added a container garden.  However, in winter we can’t grow anything as it’s in the complete shade for months.  This community garden receives full sun year round and we are really excited to finally be able to grow our broccoli, cabbage and other winter veggies.

Join a Community garden near you

If you would like to grow more veggies, but have little or no garden space, see if there is a community garden near you.  Not only is this a best way of getting fresh organic veggies if you have no garden, but also there is a great sense of community. We’ve already met some wonderful people.

Some form of fee, like joining fee, annual fee or similar is offset very quickly once you start to harvest the produce.  Our joining and annual fee equals the amount we spend on fruit and veggies for a month.  Every year after there is only an annual fee – the amount we spend on one trip to the farmers market.  Plus, all the produce from our plot will be organic!

Our Two-stage vegetable planting project

As summer is approaching and we are experiencing unusually hot spring weather, we rolled our sleeves up.  As you can see above, we first needed to loosen the slightly compacted, but very good soil.  We inherited a cauliflower and a bunch of silverbeet (chard) on the right in the picture.  The pest ridden cauliflower was devoured by our chickens, but silverbeet is left so we can collect the seeds.

The picture below is stage one finished, taken after sunset.  We’ve planted cucumber, corn, sunflower, zucchini (courgette), eggplant (aubergine) and tomatoes (self-seeded and Roma).

The next evening stage two was finished.  We had to work late to avoid heat and give the plants a chance to soak up the moisture during the night.  We added beans (green and butter beans), spring onions, beetroots, peas, red capsicums and marigold (calendula) at each corner as it deters several garden pests:

This picture below was taken early next morning just before watering.  We’ve added some mulch to retain the moisture.  Due to years of drought watering is allowed only twice a week in the morning, other days we use rainwater and watering cans.

It takes only 7-8 minutes on the bike to the garden and 5 minutes from (it’s downhill on the way back ), nice and close so we can pop in very often.  All plants are still OK and hopefully will establish themselves before the hot Australian summer.

Four weeks later:

Yummy organic veggies:

Latecomers: Eggplant and Green Capsicum, harvested march 2010

For now all our vegetables are growing in the container garden quite happily, as you can see below.  The reason is that our small veggie patch is still in the shade.

Provided there is a sunny spot in the garden or on the balcony it’s possible to have an edible garden no matter how small the space is.  If you are Down Under, get some pots and start (container) gardening!

The benefits of a container garden:

• grow veggies and other plants on limited space or on balconies
• easily moved to a sunny/shady position or inside/outside
• the earth warms up quicker in spring
• less water and fertilizer needed
• fewer issues with the pests

Here are the latest pictures from our organic urban garden:

Carrots and onions

Carrots and onions are great plant companions.  Onions are believed to deter carrot fly.   Carrots and dill, however, don’t like to be next to each other.

Potatoes in the container

Potatoes can be grown in the containers: the deeper the container the more potatoes you’ll harvest.   Plant potatoes at the base and add more soil as it grows until the whole container is full.   Instead of container, a hessian bag can be used with the same principle:  add more soil and unroll the bag as you go.

Growing potatoes in pots will hardly cover the needs of any family, but it’s heaps of fun and the potatoes are the sweetest I’ve ever tasted!

Lettuce

I would recommend lettuce as the easiest veggie to grow!  A couple of containers provided us with plenty of salad leaves  throughout cool months.

Self sown tomato seedling

This self sown tomato seedling sprouted in between carrots and onions, possibly from the compost or the garden soil I filled the container with.  Hope it survives (and is of good variety) as the frost danger isn’t over until the end of October.

Dill

Dill seems to happily share the pot with spinach.   But keep it away from carrots!

Marigold (Calendula)

Not a vegetable, but a pretty and very beneficial flower to have in the veggie garden. Marigold (French marigold too) deters a number of pest insects.

Azalea

This is definitely not an edible plant, but brightens our urban garden in early spring!

Also in our urban container garden, we have some garlic, a few beetroots, strawberries, snow peas, sunflower and basil seedlings enjoying the spring sun.

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Today is World Environment Day. This year’s theme for the WED is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’.

To celebrate the WED our kids planted the seeds of a beautiful native weeping red bottlebrush tree.  The seeds pack is a promotion of the Melbourne tram company.  See the pictures below:

Eco kids – Planting seeds:

Seeds planted – great addition to our urban garden:

Watering:

Mission accomplished, minor misspelling

Sunflower

Basil in pot

Cherry Tomatoes

Urban Chickens

Garden Strawberries

Chillies

Bee on Sunflower

Basil

Your thoughts on urban gardens? Please share in the comments!

The effort and initial small investment of money and time will pay off in many ways. The benefits of growing food in your urban garden:

Fresher and better tasting food – food is picked and eaten straight so it doesn’t lose the nutrients

Healthier food – eating fresh and organic gives you peace of mind that no chemicals are present, even if it’s just few herbs it’s a step forward

Kinder to the environment – no petrol used to transport the food to the shops, no need to hop in the car for it and no soil is harmed by organic gardening practices

Saves money – almost “free” compared to organic food form shops

Educational – kids can learn so much form growing an organic garden (adults too!) and food is more appreciated and less wasted

Plants suitable for containers or small urban gardens:

Herbs – the easiest to start with. The taste of freshly picked herbs is incomparable to the shop bought that traveled long distances and spent days in the refrigerators. Herbs grow happily in containers or in the garden bed. Plant seedlings from the local garden centre or directly from seeds – which is more economical.

Choose herbs you use most in cooking. Popular are parsley, chives, coriander, basil, thyme, mint. Some herbs such as mint, sage, thyme or lemongrass make wonderful herbal teas. Pick regularly as it promotes new young shoots and delays flowering.

Vegetables – lettuce leaves, tomatoes and chilies are all pot loving veggies. Plant them in a container filled with quality potting mix that has at least one hole for drainage. You can mix veggies with herbs and the best example of companion growing is tomato-basil combination.

For a small urban garden or raised bed choose varieties that don’t use a lot of space. Spring onions, radishes, spinach, silverbeet (chard), garlic, leek, climbing beans, carrots, tomatoes and lettuces are crops that use limited garden space efficiently. Ask at your local nursery or garden shop if in doubt.

Fruit – my favorites are strawberries! Easy to grow in the hanging baskets, pots or in the garden, the taste of home grown is sensational. Other fruits easily grown in pots are lemons, mandarins, dwarf apples and pears, figs and other.

If the benefits of urban gardening sound appealing to you, then you should start planning out your urban garden today. Begin with few pots of herbs and in no time you will be expanding to veggies and fruit. Go to the local nursery, grab a book on gardening, watch a TV gardening program or search on the internet for inspiration. Involve the whole family and/or friends. Gardening, be it on small or large scale is very rewarding and soooo much fun! See pictures from my urban garden.