asahi
From: Australiaabout me
Hi there, Work in aquaculture, like beer, Keen on cooking and gardening (of course - that's why I'm here), Favourite recipe at present - Jamie O's spinach and ricotta cannelloni, Why I think 'Jamie at Home' is great - because it's exactly what I love to do - grow stuff and cook stuff!
A question for Jekka, or any other herb expert
I would like to learn about a few herbs that are great companion plants in the garden. General one's that are known to attract beneficial insects etc.
I have marigolds and have planted natives plants around the garden as these are great for attracting birds and insects (Australian natives such as grevillea --> see picture). However I would like to plant a few beneficial herbs amongst my culinary herbs. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Also...the herb commonly known as 'Dogbane'. Sorry, I don't known it's scientific name. Is it effective in keeping dogs out of the herb garden?
Thanks all.
Setting up a worm box
I have always thought the idea of a worm farm was great..I just never got around to setting one up. I finally did it yesterday..thanks to a great idea from 'Gardeing Australia' - a tv show.
I don't know how to post multiple pictures on one post so I can't show you the step by step set-up - the picture shows the box, on brick, with a plastic container underneath to catch the worm pee (or worm tea or whatever else it's known by). This liquid is concentrated goodness so can be diluted and used as fertilizer..neat hey!
So what I did was get a styrofoam box, put some draining holes (screwdriver) in the bottom and then lined it with shadecloth. Then, I whacked in some compost (I have another cold compost pile), added the box of worms and cover it with about ten sheets of wet newspaper. Lastly I put a damp towel on top and placed a container under the drainage holes. Pretty simple. It's not as pretty as store bought worm farms, but a lot cheaper and hopefully just as effective. I bought the box of worms from the garden centre. I had everything else except the worms. So for $19.95 I am happy. And so are the worms 
What's do do know is to feed it chopped up kitchen waste to feed the worms.
Onset of spring
With the onset of spring, I decided to get busy in the "herb" garden yesterday. I use the term 'herb' loosely - although I grow predominately herbs, I dabble in lettuce, tomatoes and beans every so often.
I went to work on planting out marigold seedlings in a few different spots. The marigolds from last year were looking a bit past it. I planted some roma and cherry tomatoes and I made sure to do the companion thing and sprinkle some sweet basil seeds amongst them.
As you can see from the picture I have a few plants in this bed. Beans, tomatoes, a few different chillies, thyme, oregano, lettuce, dill, sage and marigolds (and the basil seeds..)
The patch here may look a bit crowded. but the soil is incredibly fertile and can support this amount.
I will take another photo in few weeks to show the progress...
I also potted up some marjoram, baby spinach, watercress, chives and rocket. These were placed in the shadehouse. Where I live these herbs pretty much get stressed from the hot sun. They cope a little better in part shade.
I drastically shopped back the tarragon (a herb I have used about once in a year! I know, I know..if you don't use it, get rid of it. I like it for its yellow flowers actually..looks great 
)
Lastly i set up a worm box....I'll write more about that in another post.
Happy planting!
Doggy Salad!
...well like many of you here, I enjoy cooking and gardening. In particular, I like growing herbs.
Of course having two young kids (a three, and an eighteen month old), they often follow me around to help me water and pick my herbs. They also love to 'help' me cook - this usually involves making a mess of the flour when I'm making pasta or bread
So I come home from work the other day and begin to cook the evening meal for my pregnant wife (as all good husbands do ), and I go outside to pick some herbs. what do I find --> the parsley has bare stems -all the leaves have been stripped, the chives have been given a complete 'haircut' and are now 1 cm high only and my marjoram has been uprooted.
Of course my first reaction was to blame the dogs. But they didn't really look all that guilty, but I did notice that in the dogs' feed bowl was a salad of sorts. Earlier that day, my three year old son felt like making a lovely green salad for the dogs. A mixed salad of chives, marjoram and parsley to be exact. Oh, and it was garnished with marigold.
At the first sight of the destruction to my herbs I was, understandably, quite angry. But how can I sit back now and say that I'm not chuffed that my kids are gardening and making up their own recipes - even if their culinary creations are intended for the dogs 
Kids in the kitchen and garden are a great mix - always fun (well, mostly).
Attached is a picture of my young lemon tree - and what I hope to be my first lemon off it soon (yes my kids have picked off some immature lemons already).
Happy Days!
