So you’re back from outer space…
I’m very conscience of the fact that nearly every second post here is an apology and a promise that normal posting will resume now.
I’m sorry.
Normal posting will now resume.
There that’s out of the way, hopefully this will be the last time I need to do that for a while!
So where are we now?
Well we have moved into the new house - yes I should technically change the blog’s title to Suburban Cultivation, no I will not be 
We’re now outside the city and a lot closer to a rural environment however the same problems face us as they did before. Right now we’re looking at the established gardens and the giant job in front of us of remolding them to our liking, we’re not sure at this stage if a vegetable garden is going to go into that mix.
What we do have is a front and a back deck, the front deck I’ve currently taken over for my new herb plants (we’re still moving some plants over from Tracey’s Dad’s place):
The two on the end are survivors from the previous place, my capsicum plant that will not die and a similar minded Aloe Vera who was cut off completely but thought it best to try and keep on growing!
Now I’ve got at least three other posts already planned so that should keep us going for a little while before I have to make apologies etc again!
Published by Lee on December 29th, 2008 | Filed under Capsicum, Herbs | Comment now »
So little effort
Today I planted the chives and parsley in some pots which have had soil in them for a while. Of course over the last couple of days I have been conditioning the soil with seaweed so the whole process wasn’t completely without effort but I assure you no sweat was broken.
I did also prune my hideously overgrown lemon grass and noticed that the capsicum plant that I have written off almost four times now is once again showing signs of life!? Poor thing doesn’t know when to give in.
Published by Lee on August 26th, 2008 | Filed under Herbs | 3 Comments »
Something I forgot
This poor site barely ever gets an update nowadays and the reason is simple, I just don’t plant or grow anything of late. The reason for that is that whilst we are buying a house Tracey and I are in limbo, staying with her father and not having any space to ourselves.
I forgot then the first rule of urban cultivation, there is always room for something to grow.
All you have to do is look at plants that against all odds grow in places where they just plain shouldn’t, in between cracks in concrete for instance. It’s crazy but they still find a way. As the quote goes from one of my favourite books: Life always finds a way.
So this morning I ducked out to the local hardware centre and picked up some seaweed fertilizer, a couple of packets of seeds and a really cheap sprayer.
I’ve got a couple of plants that are still kicking so I’ve given them a bit of a boost and started preparing a couple of small pots for some herbs that I use regulary and have never had a huge success with:
- Chives
- Parsley
Cheers everyone who have come back after shockingly seeing Urban Cultivation show up in their feedreaders again! I’ll try not to leave it so long again.
Published by Lee on August 24th, 2008 | Filed under Herbs | 3 Comments »
Feel good story about battery hens
I know I haven’t written here for a while, I’ve been busy and gardening very little. The exciting news though is that Tracey and I are buying a house and so I’ll be able to really set up some nice gardens and document the whole thing.
It doesn’t mean of course that I’m abandoning the growing stuff in the city theme, I’ll just be spreading out to suburbia too.
That’s not why I wanted to drop everyone a line today though, I wanted to highlight a cool story I read over at Sunset Over Slawit. Rol’s sister recently rescued some chickens who were facing an untimely demise after serving their time as battery hens. Told that the chickens will now be pretty useless and unable to function as normal chickens they have proven anything but!
It a nice story so go over to Sunset Over Slawit and check out Rescue Chickens!
Published by Lee on May 11th, 2008 | Filed under Conscientious, Environment | 3 Comments »
Rocket… yeah!
No this isn’t a Def Leppard song I’m talking about my newest batch of leafy vegetables called rocket or if you prefer Eruca sativa. Honestly though who is going to prefer that name!?
There was a time, especially here in Australia where a leafy green salad comprised mostly of lettuce, and boring old ice berg lettuce at that. Fortunately this is no longer the case as we now mix in various types of lettuce leaves, baby spinach and of course rocket.
It’s high in iron and vitamin C and has a strong flavour that borders on peppery. Apparently it was cultivated back in Roman times where it was considered an aphrodisiac which I imagine made nervous tigers quite happy to have an alternative to their… well I’m sure they were happy anyway.
You generally use it in salads but it can be added to pizzas, cooked with pasta and in pesto. There is an area in Slovenia where it is added to the cheese burek!
It is such an easy plant to grow and use too which makes it ideal for those of us with little or no room. Considering up until the 1990s it was almost completely harvested from the wild it is really easy to get (here in Australia at least).
To prove that it is indeed easy to grow I can let you know that the plants that you see in the photo were grown from seed in an old pot whose plants had died and I threw in a couple of other pots of empty soil and mixed it all up.
Essentially I threw in a handful of seeds, turned the soil lightly, chucked some fertiliser granules over the top and watered. A couple of weeks later the whole pot is covered in rocket. No fuss at all. It would be great for maybe a planter box on a window sill or maybe a larger pot on the deck or balcony where it can get some sun.
I think I might make a pesto out of it and my basil plant.
Published by Lee on March 20th, 2008 | Filed under Basil, Lettuce, Rocket, Vegetables | 5 Comments »
Adding some taste to mini pizzas
In the supermarket the other night on one of our multiple trips to the shops for food (*sigh*) Tracey suggested we make mini pizzas for dinner. This was indeed a capital idea and gave us some much needed direction in regards to ingredients.
Extraordinarily Urban Cultivation pride moment came when asked do we need to pick up some capsicums?
No I’ve got that covered!!!
In fact I managed to add some fresh basil to the pizzas also. Of course the capsicums were ridiculously small but they added huge flavour to the pizzas, so their contribution was highly appreciated.
The best bit is that I have about ten currently growing on the plant which are about the same size or a little smaller so over the next couple of weeks they should come up really nice and I think more mini pizzas may be on the cards!!!
Published by Lee on March 18th, 2008 | Filed under Basil, Capsicum, Vegetables | Comment now »
Herb-blog-ogy lemon grass recipes to the rescue…
The other day the call was put out for some help with an abundance of lemon grass that I currently find myself in.
I’m happy to say that Anke from Herb-blog-ogy has ridden in on her white herbal horse and given me some suggestions in her article The many uses of lemon grass.
The site is great too because not only does it talk about lemon grass which appears to be my obsession currently (it will pass I’m sure - do you remember the lettuce saga) but it also looks at other herbs and herbal stuff.
Well worth the visit and I’m not saying this just because my name is mentioned over there (it doesn’t hurt of course).
Published by Lee on March 17th, 2008 | Filed under Herbs, Lemon Grass | 2 Comments »
So I got lemon grass - now what do I do?
The lemon grass plant is now away from the dogs, the dogs who would mistaken it for a nice potted grass bush that they would munch on, realise that they don’t like it and then throw up. Much, I’m sure, to the dislike of the actual plant itself who probably felt like a victim of the situation.
So the plant is safely out the back and now it is thriving, so much so that I’ve had to start thinking about what to do with it.
Oh sure it goes well with chicken! But what if you don’t eat chicken? What if you don’t eat meat of any kind?
Is this a useless herb to have for a vegetarian?
I hope not! Because the plants looking really healthy and I have to prune it back soon and would love to be able to use it for something, anything!
Suggestions are welcomed.
If you do happen to be a meat eater this stuff is great from seasoning and the plant as long as it isn’t constantly grazed upon by your local idiot dogs is a very easy to grow plant, quite containable. It grows upwards rather than out and can sit in the corner in a tall pot with very little trouble at all.
Oh and it smells fantastic!
Published by Lee on March 16th, 2008 | Filed under Herbs, Lemon Grass | 2 Comments »
Hardy tomato plants
I’m really surprised, as I think I’ve more frequently become every day that I continue growing these little plants. By all rights all of my tomato plants should be dead and I assumed that a couple of them had died. However four of the plants as soon as they got a bit of rain water on them came back to life and sprouted fresh vibrant new growth.
I think the point that I’m trying to get over to people, especially those who live in the city and only have small balconies and claim not to have green thumbs can really consider tomatoes because they are very strong plants that don’t need a huge amount of attention.
Consider the cherry tomato varieties and if you’ve got a big enough pot why not drop a little basil in there as well (kind of an all for one dish type of pot!).
If anyone does get inspired by this or is already growing plants in pots or small plots in the city send me some photos to brag and encourage others and I’ll either link to them or put them up here!
Published by Lee on February 5th, 2008 | Filed under Basil, Tomatoes | 4 Comments »
Capsicum plant takes another beating
I feel really bad for my capsicum plant. Every time it starts to make a go of it the dogs, rodents or possums sink their teeth in and strip the plant down. Then I rescue it, water it, coddle it a little and it comes back with vibrant bright green new growth and it sets itself out to start growing and producing.
The plant is honestly a little battler and so I’ve put it with the other plants (despite my promise to continue neglecting it after such good results before) away from general danger and I hope that it gets a fair chance to thrive this time into a small shrub or bush.