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Dissily Mordentroge
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Raised Bed Vegetable Garden In Nth of Tasmania

This is my first post here. I’m a little puzzled this thread appears to have come to an end some moths ago but maybe I still can’t find my way around. Every forum’s software has its own peculiarities . Five months ago I was granted the use of a number of raised garden beds in my neighbours. His partner, who was the gardener, left the planet and he has no interest in gardening and what he described as ‘black thumbs’.
This opportunity came at the right time as this year in Nth Tasmania we’re suffering from a rabbit plague so growing veg on my own land had become impossible. I tend to garden with a somewhat unscientific approach possibly due my advanced age and decades of sniffing the soil, running it through my hands and observing what weeds thrive.
It appeared to me my predecessor had filled the raised beds with high quality loam of some kind and applied a large amount of seaweed of some kind. I added sheep manure (weed free!) and a small amount of lime. So far everything is growing well. Luckily I was given a rough explanation of which beds grew what crops the previous year. However every single bed produced hundreds of tomato seedlings.(from badly processed compost?) I’ve just added broad spectrum trace elements and my own organic compost to one bed where I’m about to plant cauliflower seedlings. Possibly a risky move in Nth Tasmania in late December heading into the hottest part of the year but gardeners I trust tell me I can get away with it.
In some beds I’ve used a woven weed matting to great effect. Water passes though it very quickly and it appears to allow the soil to breath. Tomatoes are thriving with the matting and only require watering every four or five days in hot weather.
The only failure I had was with peas which I suspect I planted too late and which were attacked by blackbirds digging up the straw mulch. The solution was to remove the mulch. They lost interest immediately but it was still obviously too late in the season for peas.


At the moment I’m harvesting corn. carrots, potatoes, leeks, broccoli, cucumbers, zucchini, raspberries and herbs.
In a few weeks I’ll have tomatoes, capsicum, Golden Nugget Pumpkins.
Later on Spaghetti Squash, Queensland Blue Pumpkins and on my own block next door quinces, pears and apples.
From the quince tree ( 170 years old) I produce quince jelly and quince liqueur.

I have to confess I’ll sometimes step outside strict organic principles if I encounter pests etc.

Can we post images here? If so I’ll take some shots and add them to this.
Last edited by Dissily Mordentroge on Fri Jan 29, 2021 11:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

imafan26
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Welcome to the forum. You can post pictures in full editor b attaching files. You may have to resize the file so they will upload. Looks like you are already a successful gardener.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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I’m not always successful as most of my gardening knowledge applies to my experience in a much less harsh winter climate to the Nth of Tasmania. When I first moved down here I stupidly planted a range of things in October that were soon turned black by the frost. The soil too has been a puzzle as have the very obvious implications of climate change. The area I’m in has a very complex and varied soil profile with small areas being totally different from heavy clay to alluvial sands left over from ancient glaciers to deep friable and very fertile topsoil. And then there’s the immense problem this year of a rabbit plague the State Agriculture Dep’t refused to do anything about.
I’ll post some images of what I’m involved in this year. What are the file size limits?
Just noticed images need to be stored on the web and not posted from my desktop. Looks like I’m out of that game as I gave up storing my images on the web a long time ago.
Now I’ll try ‘editor B’ Well that didn’t work......
Just read the instructions for loading images on the Forum Home section. With all due respect to whoever wrote them (moderator?) they’ve confused me totally. Anyhow, if the process is as complex and counterintuitive as it appears I won’t be bothered loading images.
Maybe I missed it but I also couldn’t find any reference to image file sizes.

imafan26
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Location matters. If you correct your profile and add your location it helps. A lot of the gardening help really depends on your location. I myself have a 365 day gardening year, but that also means I have a 365 day pest year too. I need heat and disease resistance. Temperate crops can be grown here but not easily. Even within my area there are micro climates. I can grow things that won't do well 4 miles downhill, but things that like drier conditions will like being downhill better. I haven't really gardened anywhere else, but I know that the general gardening information does not really apply here so I have to look for key words like "tender annual" (could be perennial), "tubers come up in spring" (not necessarily if it needs winter chilling hours), "glossy green leaves" are a plus. Basically I can grow almost everything in zone 9 and up and a few zone 8 plants.

You can upload pictures you have stored on your computer and on your phone. Plug your phone into your computer and you can upload pictures, but they need to be edited or they will be sideways or upside down. I usually resize to 70%. Most things will upload then. You can send pictures directly from your phone if you are accessing this site from a phone or tablet. Go into full editor on the post and you will see on the bottom of the page attach files, so you can browse your picture files on the computer to attach files. If you are lucky, the pictures are not dense and they will upload, otherwise you have to resize. There is probably an easier way to do this but you probably have to google that.

If you look on the main menu for the forum for beginners there is help on posting pictures.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Looking in the main menu I can’t see anything like ‘forum for beginners’ .
Maybe I’m an impatient old git but I’m close to giving up. It may look pretty but the formatting of this site is insane.

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applestar
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Hi and welcome! I took the liberty of splitting off and starting a new thread for your raised bed garden discussion — it sounds promising with lots to talk about — not the least of which is your location! :D I had to look up “Nth of Tasmania” ... of course the search results immediately said NORTH TASMANIA and I said duh :oops: :roll:

In our forums, anyone can start a new topic of discussion —it’s encouraged Especially if you have specific questions or issues unique to your situation.

This is the forum sub directory Imafan referenced — NEW TO HELPFUL GARDENER?

Happy to help so just give a shout out. :-()

Vanisle_BC
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Haha, I too was puzzled by "Nth" of Tasmania. I saw it in an algebraic sense: 1st, 2nd, 3rd ...Nth - What! how many Tasmanias are there: Is it actually a numbered but not fully explored archipelago? :eek: Eventually 'the penny dropped' (is that a universal expression?) As an abbreviation for north I'm used to just 'N.'

Well since I'm fairly off-topic already I'll just continue. As an impatient old git myself, @dissily, I'm with you about web-page design; not particularly this one - nearly all of them. I can frequently be heard mumbling about "damn adolescents more interested in 'cool' & 'groovy' than in clarity & functional convenience." I also take enjoyment from my own observation that "computer literacy won't substitute for the real thing."

It was a long time before I understood why people were putting @ in front of names. Maybe I still don't really understand it. If I only use part of a name - @dissily - will it still alert the named person? Is it case-sensitive?

@Dissily Mordentroge, is your name an anagram? The thought keeps me awake at night.

End of off-topic rejoinder.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Sorry about ‘Nth of Tasmania’ . I could blame it on me being an almost illiterate, elderly autodidact.
Computer literacy is one thing, the anarchic non-standardised ‘design’ of forum software is another.
But yes, I fully agree with your view '"damn adolescents more interested in 'cool' & 'groovy' than in clarity & functional convenience.” A generation who think ergonomics is a game of making everything they design as counterintuitive as possible.

I still haven’t untangled the procedure for posting images from my desktop and maybe given my advancing senility never will. And I still can’t find the figure for image permitted file sizes mentioned anywhere.

As to ‘Dissily Mordentroge’ there are a number of Dissily Mordentroge’s on the web. I noticed the name a few years ago when feeling the need to hide my identity on a government census form and have stuck with it, along with a few others. Sorry to keep you awake at night.It’s a long time since I managed that - - - :eek:

Vanisle_BC
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@applestar - Feel free (as you are} to migrate the recent bits of this topic, elsewhere.

@Dissily, so you're multiply impostrous - shame on you!

Vanisle_BC
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Dissily Mordentroge wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 3:57 pm
.

I still haven’t untangled the procedure for posting images from my desktop and maybe given my advancing senility never will. And I still can’t find the figure for image permitted file sizes mentioned anywhere.
I found the instructions here pretty good: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3724

I don't know what file size is permitted. My usual image program is Irfanview. I use it to reduce pictures to 5 inch width, re- orient(ate) :) them if req. - no idea how it does that - and they post just fine.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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You found the instructions here pretty good: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3724?
Sorry, but the formatting of those instructions totally defeated me.
I give up !

Vanisle_BC
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@Dissily Mordentroge

Something very strange is going on. If I click the link in my previous post I get very detailed, simple well-illustrated instructions (although it's taken me a long time to find the link.) But if I copy/paste the link - apparently identical - from your own post, I get a 'server not found' message AND if I look up in the URL bar, a forward slash / has been inserted in the address, between 'php' and '?'. I've tried several times with always the same result. - ???

ServerMsg.png
corrupedURLMed.jpg
corrupedURLMed.jpg (16.57 KiB) Viewed 2543 times

Are these the results you get or do you just not understand the actual help page that loads when you click on the postedt URL (assuming that works for you): I mean this one viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3724
which is working for me right now, if I click on it within this post.

PS You didn't include your question mark in the URL, did you? As in 'viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3724?'
Last edited by Vanisle_BC on Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I shrink my pictures by 60% and get a file size about 3.3mb and it loads.

This is how I upload a picture
1.Upload pictures from phone or sd card to computer.
2. Use editor or picasa or whatever editor you have to edit the picture. Mine says "resize" I choose 60% pixels. Save the file with a new name on the computer or Google instructions on how to edit pictures on your computer. I have windows 10. It might be different with a different OS.
3. go to bottom of the page of the helpful gardener page in full editor and click on "attachments"
4. A message will appear that says "Add files"
5. Click on that and it should open your picture files on your computer. If you have pictures filed somewhere else, then you have to move to that folder to find the pictures.
6. Open the file that has the picture
7. Click on the picture in that file and go to the window that opens up and click on "open"
8. It should upload the picture to the message and you will get an option to add additional pictures or comment. Files can also be dragged and dropped, but I haven't been successful doing that.
You can preview before submitting.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Finally I’ve figured out how to load images - I think (fingers crossed) I avoided all the many instructions given (thanks) and simply dragged and dropped images from my desktop . (Don’t know how ‘Rhubarb’ got into the description of the second image)
Attachments
Rhubarb in foreground, artichokes behind, comfrey to right none of which the rabbits want to eat YAY!
Rhubarb in foreground, artichokes behind, comfrey to right none of which the rabbits want to eat YAY!
Beginnings of herb garden. Marigolds in Rhubarb in midground.
Beginnings of herb garden. Marigolds in Rhubarb in midground.
Dutch cream & Red Morlend potatoes. Capsicum, Broccoli and Black Russian tomatoes behind.
Dutch cream & Red Morlend potatoes. Capsicum, Broccoli and Black Russian tomatoes behind.
Zuccini at front, cucumbers behind. This single bed is supplying three households.
Zuccini at front, cucumbers behind. This single bed is supplying three households.
Just planted cauliflower seedings. Dog dug them all up later that day but replanted them and they’re still thriving.
Just planted cauliflower seedings. Dog dug them all up later that day but replanted them and they’re still thriving.
Two plantings of corn. Interestingly the second planting has almost caught up with first. So much for staggered harvesting.
Two plantings of corn. Interestingly the second planting has almost caught up with first. So much for staggered harvesting.
Roma and Black Russian tomatoes growing with weed matting on top of soil.
Roma and Black Russian tomatoes growing with weed matting on top of soil.

imafan26
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Do you hand pollinate the corn? Usually the closest I can plant corn is about 8 inches otherwise there isn't enough room for the pollen to drop on the corn silk. Nice garden and pictures. Rhubarb is huge. I can't grow it.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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This is the first time I’ve grown corn in a raised bed and so close to each other. I’ve wondered myself if the pollen will drop on the silk but judging by the silk turning brown things might work out. Fingers crossed. Hand pollenating between such close planted rows could be a pain in the XXXX.
Rhubarb I find is a heavy feeder benefitting from an application of sheep manure mid winter and a fair amount of water and liquid seaweed fertiliser during the season. Nobody I know can grow it effectively in heavy clay soil.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Rhubarb does not take 90 degree weather well. I can get it to sprout, but I cannot get it to live long.
The problem with the pollination of corn is that it is mostly by wind. If the leaves get in the way, they won't hit the silk as well. Usually, I bag at least some of the tassels to hand pollinate because I also have a very small patch of corn. 4x8 ft (39-47 plants) When it is planted to close or there are not enough plants I will get less than 1ear per plant. The corn on the outside usually need more help even when the spacing is good.

One year, I made a mistake. I thought I was planting two different varieties of corn in 2 different plots. They were both UH #9. They both came in within a short time of each other for the first time I could not eat all the corn. I have clay soil, but it is heavily amended with organic matter so it is very soft. It is also really rich so it only needs the two side dressings of nitrogen and nothing else.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Interesting. Reminds me of an old saying “Sometimes the plants haven’t read the references and do their own thing.” My corn is planted as closely as yours but I’m averaging three cobs per plant. Some claim when silk goes brown the cobs are fully fertilised but that could be on old wives tale (excuse the medieval sexism) . Maybe I should adopt your tactic as insurance?

imafan26
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I get a third ear on my corn, but the pollination of the third ear is spotty. I don't have enough space to plant additional plants. I would have to about a week later just so I can have enough pollen for the third ear. I am growing tropical corn which has a shorter day requirement and tight husk. The variety may make a difference in terms of productivity. The only other varieties I have grown have been Jubilee, Peaches and Cream and Silver Queen. All of these have been maize mosaic resistant.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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I have no idea which kind of corn I have growing. Purchased at a large hardware chain it was simply labelled ‘Sweet Corn' . The same company, Bunnings, also sold capsicum seedlings that soon looked very wrong and turned out to be sunflowers.
Despite the excellent results I’ve had with the raised beds I’ve inherited I’m starting to wonder about the soil.
So far adding sheep manure, as low dose of lime and trace elements has worked. However, I’m wondering how following crops will perform so have started thinking about soil testing. Commercially available soil testing kits I’ve used didn’t inspire confidence apart from measuring acid/alkaline balances. In my location commercial soil testing companies only service farm sized properties so I’m hunting for a solution.
OK, I flew blind with success this season but that may have just been good luck rather than my usual good instincts. I have lots of experience with successive crop planning and green manure crops such as clover but I’d still like to get some science into the act.
Any clues about how to approach this would be appreciated.

imafan26
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How I tell if corn is ready to pick is that it usually is ready 10 days after the tassels come out. The silk will brown. If you feel the ears, you can feel the swollen kernels. The corn ear drops so the angle gets a little wider. From the time the ears are fully fertilized you will have less than 10 days to pick all the corn. The longer it stays on the starchier it gets.

I haven't figured out succession yet either. I haven't figured out how much to plant and timing. My winter crops are not finishing in time for the warm season crops so I have to choose to delay the warm season crops or cut the cool season crops early. If I had an empty space to rotate this would not be a problem, but I have to plant every inch all year long.

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Gary350
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imafan26 wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:39 am
How I tell if corn is ready to pick is that it usually is ready 10 days after the tassels come out. The silk will brown. If you feel the ears, you can feel the swollen kernels. The corn ear drops so the angle gets a little wider. From the time the ears are fully fertilized you will have less than 10 days to pick all the corn. The longer it stays on the starchier it gets.

I haven't figured out succession yet either. I haven't figured out how much to plant and timing. My winter crops are not finishing in time for the warm season crops so I have to choose to delay the warm season crops or cut the cool season crops early. If I had an empty space to rotate this would not be a problem, but I have to plant every inch all year long.
Best way to tell if corn is ready to harvest is look for about 3 main things. When silks turn brown and are mostly dry feel the ears for kernel size. Sometimes kernels near the tip end are small while other kernels are large. When you think kernels are large enough to pick pull back a few leaves on ears to expose the kernels. Stick your finger nail into the kernels if the liquid color looks like milk corn is ready to harvest, taste the milk to see how sweet it is. If liquid in the kernels looks like water push leave back to keep bugs out wait about 2 days then test kernels again. Hardest thing about sweet corn all ears are never ready to harvest on the same day. Milk in kernels is sweet for about 3 days, harvest too early or too late corn is not sweet. Have an ice chest full of ice water ready on the day of harvest once ears are pulled from the plants they start loosing sweetness in about 30 minutes so remove all leaves from ears put ears in ice water to stop corn from loosing sweetness. You can also up ears in boiling water to stop them from loosing sweetness. If you plan to eat corn put them in hot water but if you plan to freeze ears put them in ice water. We usually put 8 ears in boiling water for dinner and 50 ears in ice water to cut from cobs to be frozen is zip lock bags. It usually takes us 4 to 6 days to harvest all 250 ears with about 50 to 70 ears getting ripe each day. The real #1 trick to ripeness is sweetness, taste the milk in the kernels.

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