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Tag: Liffey Valley Market

  • Spring has sprung!

    Given our recent absence from the blogosphere, some of you are probably wondering if we had gone back into hibernation. We have been super busy with events and displays over the last six weeks. It’s only now that we are catching our breath and realising that spring has well and truly sprung!

    So what have we been up to during that time? Firstly, we exhibited at Blooming Tasmania’s Flower and Garden Festival at Albert Hall on 22-23 September. Ludovic’s unique Cube display, stool and planters certainly attracted a lot of attention at this event. Memo to selves: Next time make enough planters so we can sell them on the day! It is not to late to put an order in if you are interested.

    Two people stand smiling behind a wooden table with plants and a sign that reads “Inwardout Studio.” They both wear name badges and are indoors with a window behind them.

    Our display at Blooming Tasmania’s Flower and Garden Festival

    Three modern wooden plant stands of varying heights hold potted plants on a grassy lawn. Trees and a building are in the background under a clear blue sky. A person stands partially visible at the right edge.

    Our plant stands at Blooming Tasmania’s Flower and Garden Festival proved a hit. Here they are seen basking in the sun in City Park, Launceston.

    Three weeks later, we were once again back at Albert Hall for the Tamar Sustainable Living Expo on Saturday 13 October. Whilst we did bring along our Cube, I was way too busy coordinating the event to be able to staff our display. Yes we also manage events! We generally don’t like to put up static displays without someone to accompany them to answer questions from those people wanting to know more. So we decided to offer a garden design prize as part of the Expo Passport competition to make up for it. We’ll be conducting the site inspection for the lucky winner of that prize next Saturday.

    A woman and two children interact with a display featuring plants and educational materials in a room with patterned carpet, wooden walls, stools, and large windows.

    Our display at the Tamar Sustainable Living Expo. We focused on providing information on how indoor plants can help clean indoor air and improve your mental well-being, a great connection the sustainable living theme of the Expo. On another note, kids just loved our stools, and so did many adults.

    So what else is coming up?

    This Sunday, we are heading out to Entally House for Gardenfest 2018. This time though we are not coordinating the event and/or exhibiting in it! We will be there seeking plants, and checking out local arts and crafts. Gardenfest will also be open on Saturday too, if you are inclined to attend. However, we will be busy checking out the Liffey Valley Market for local seedlings and honey that morning, before lending a hand weeding at the nearby Oura Oura Reserve.

    And the following Sunday (18 November), we will be heading out to the Festival of Roses at the historic Woolmers Estate near Longford. Now I am not normally inclined to “take time out to smell the roses”! Yes, I do enjoy slowing down and relaxing. However, roses are not especially my favourite plant. However, in the interest of research, I will be heading out to Woolmers to explore their gardens. With over 80 stalls ranging from wine, food, jewellery, art and crafts, I think I will find something I like! And I may be lucky enough to catch up with gardening guru, Angus Stewart, who now lives in Tasmania. Angus has been in Western Australia recently experiencing that state’s beautiful wildflower displays. Jealous!!!

    We have also been busy growing and buying seedlings for our own summer vegetable garden. Believe it or not, the silverbeet we planted in November last year has only just started to “bolt”. So we have been able to harvest its fresh leaves all throughout winter. So fresh and delicious! We’ll hopefully get a few more weeks out of it as I pinched out its growing tips to stop flowers being produced just yet. Although this year, Ludovic wants to put in the more colourful rainbow chard instead. But first we have to harvest our garlic in early December. Fingers crossed, we’ll have over 50 bulbs to collect and store for use next year.

    A vegetable garden bed covered with netting features leafy greens and other plants growing in mulched soil, surrounded by wire fencing for protection.

    Everlasting silverbeet? Maybe not, but it certainly has stayed the distance! And we can’t wait to harvest our garlic soon.

    So we’re not letting this warmer weather get away from us! We’ll be out and about in our own and other gardens over the coming months. Stay tuned for details of what is inspiring us and also tips for your own gardens.

    A bientôt!

  • Growing great garlic!

    Growing great garlic!

    I headed out yesterday desperately seeking garlic. No, Tasmania had not suddenly been invaded by vampires. I had received notice that Jenny Edlington was selling what she calls “seed garlic” at the Liffey Valley Market.

    Now technically the garlic cloves we plant to produce new garlic bulbs are not seeds. However, I won’t quibble with Jenny on that one. For $15.50 I picked up four top-notch garlic bulbs from Jenny. If this may seem a little expensive to you, just remember that each clove can potentially produce a whole new bulb with between 10-15 cloves … if treated right!

    A mesh bag containing several garlic bulbs sits on a green and white checked tablecloth. A white price tag attached to the bag displays the number 1550 in blue ink.

    Yummy, locally-grown garlic! But not for eating now 🙁 (© Ludovic Vilbert)

    So how do you look after garlic? Jenny shared her tips with us, with a little elaboration from me:

    1. Prepare the growing bed first.

    Garlic does really well in well-drained soils rich in organic matter .Jenny and many other garlic growers recommend incorporating a layer of mushroom compost five to ten centimetres deep into the top few inches of soil. No, this is not compost made from mushrooms, as I must admit I first thought! It is a sterile mix usually prepared for growing mushrooms in. Mushroom compost is generally made from a mixture of straw, peat moss, gypsum, lime, cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, corncobs, cocoa bean shells, chicken litter and/or horse stable bedding.

    2. Choose garlic bulbs with large cloves.

    More stored energy to help produce those new bulbs!

    3. Plant when the season changes to much cooler nights, usually April to May.

    In Melbourne you will probably have to wait until May, but here in Tassie some of us can look forward to cooler temperatures just a little earlier! So hence why I am getting my garlic bed ready now for planting in a few weeks.

    4. Separate bulbs immediately prior to planting and plant basal end down ten centimetres deep, twenty centimetres apart in raised beds.

    The basal end is the flattened end of the bulb where the roots will develop from. Now I have grown garlic a little closer together than twenty centimetres, more like ten centimetres apart and had success. However, if you really want a plant to thrive, you do need to give it room to grow.

    Illustration of hardneck garlic with labelled parts: umbel capsule, scape, spathe, neck, bulbils, flower stalk, garlic bulb, bulb, roots, clove, skin, and garlic clove.

    NB. See the basal plate at the bottom of the garlic clove. This is the bit you “stick” into the soil (© University of Alaska Fairbanks)

    5. Mulch with straw.

    Prevent weeds growing that may compete with the growing garlic for resources.

    I am so glad to have met Jenny at the Liffey Valley Market. She has so much experience and knowledge of how to grow fruit and vegetables here in this cool climate. And Jenny is not the only local grower selling excellent fresh produce at this market. These markets are very precious as they provide not only the opportunity to purchase great produce, but also the chance a chance for locals and visitors to get together, have a yarn and share their growing tips. Priceless! But more on the market another time!

    For now, I have a bed to prepare!

    Next Liffey Valley Market: 9am–1pm, Saturday 14 April 2018, 1443 Liffey Rd, Liffey TAS 7301.

    (Look for the old schoolhouse on top of the hill as you turn right from Bracknell Rd)

    Harvesting garlic? More on that later too. Don’t expect to do that until November/December. Like a great wine, it needs time to develop 😉