Growing

Find my posts about our garden here. 

Here's our backyard in June 2012, about 2 months after we moved in.

And here it is 18 months later, in December 2013. You can flick through the progress shots here. 

It's really hard to find information on the internet about gardening in Townsville, and our climate here is fairly unique - tropical, but dry for most of the year, with some ridiculously wet periods. I make no claims to being a good gardener, especially since we've really just begun to have the space to grow things, but as we work out what grows for us and what doesn't, I will come back here and give some updates. This is as much a reference for Andy and I as it is for others to peek in on our greenery. I'll put any notes along side, but this will not be any kind of comprehensive gardening manual! 

Almost-ripe peanut butter fruit.

This is what we have tried to grow, or are growing, so far.

Fruit Trees & Shrubs

Cinnamon	Planted April 2013
Cassava	fast growing screen plants
Grumichama - black	Planted in January 2013 - very slow first month, and then lots of new growth
Avocado - wurtz	Don't plant in full sun in Townsville summer. Don't overwater.
Mulberry - dwarf black	Very fast grower - sweet fruit. Pick berries as they ripen and store in the freezer until enough for baking
Custard apple	Grown from seed (gifted from a friend) - planted November 2013
Lime - Australian blood lime	Growing pretty quickly - this is a cross between an Indian Rangpur and a native finger lime
Mulberry - red shahtoot	Planted in April 2013, a few fruits in October 2013. Andy says they taste like a rainbow.
Ice cream bean	One of the first things we planted, in mid-2012, steady grower
Mandarin - dwarf imperial	Planted winter 2013
Abiu	Planted April 2013
pineapple	We plant the tops anytime we buy fruit from the market.
Star apple	Slow to start (planted in June 2012, and then it was nearly killed by a digging dog) but put on lots of growth in spring / summer
Dragon fruit - yellow pitaya	Planted in pots in May 2012 and they struggled; put into the ground in December 2012 and they are doing much better
Dragon fruit - red	Planted in pots in May 2012 and they struggled; put into the ground in December 2012 and they are doing much better
Passion fruit - yellow	Slow to start (planted in winter 2012) but put on lots of growth in spring / summer, prolific fruiter in late summer / autumn
Passion fruit - purple	Planted October 2013
Guava - apple	Fast growth - planted mid-2012, fruit by late 2013
Achacha	Grown from seed
Bananas	We've planted suckers since May 2012, anytime friends are giving them away. Fruit takes 3 or 4 months to ripen but can be harvested a hand at a time to avoid banana glut
Coffee	Fairly vigorous grower when in part-sun; full sun makes it go yellow-ish and a bit leggy
Lime - West Indian (Key lime)	Going okay but not great - probably more to do with soil than the plant itself (planted in spring 2012)
Star fruit	Grown from seed (Permaculture swap) - planted November 2013
Pomegranate	Planted January 2013, semi-deciduous in dry season
Pawpaw - yellow	Slow to thrive, starting to take off after nearly a year in the ground - need good compost
Pawpaw - red	Very fast grower - planted December 2012
Peanut Butter tree	Planted January 2013 - doubled in size in about 3 months, small amounts of fruit ripening within 11 months of planting. Fruit taste like cooked sweet potato
Grumichama - orange	Planted April 2013
Mandarin	Grown from seed (gifted from a friend) - planted May 2012
Lemon - Eureka	Very fast grower - planted June 2012
Jack fruit	Planted January 2013

Veggies, Flowers, and other Things - This is too much work to keep up to date, because the plants change too regularly! But I will leave this list here as a record of our first year of growing things. Check the posts tagged with garden to see what goes really well since then.

Plant (variety)	Season	Notes
Aloe Vera		doesn't love direct sunlight
Amaranth (mekong red)	winter	Didn't germinate! I think because it got too cold straight after we planted the seeds, and really rainy
Amaranth (red calaloo)	winter	slow to come up in the cold weather
Amaranth (red calaloo)	spring
Basil	all
beetroot	winter-spring	Didn't form bulbs
bougainvillea
calendula	winter	Slow to start but lots of big flowers once it got going
calendula	spring
capsicum
Chilli (bird's eye)	all
Choko	winter-spring	grew vigorously for a while and then died off before fruiting
coastal grevillea
cucumber	all	vines are relatively short lived, but fruit prolifically while they are alive
Dill	spring	likes lots of water
Eggplant (the big purple ones)		Has been flowering and fruiting for about 6 months non-stop
garlic chives
geranium	spring
Hibiscus
jicama	spring-summer	took >2 months to germinate from seeds
Kale (black tuscan)	winter
Kale (red russian)	autumn
Lamb's wort	winter-spring
lemon grass
luffa	spring -summer
marigolds	all
mint		Dried out a lot and died back in the build-up to the wet season
mizuna
Nasturtium	winter	A bit slow to come up but once they got going they went super well
Nasturtium	spring	In a garden bed that gets lots of direct sun, so they are a bit less thrivey and want more water
Okra	spring-summer	grows quickly, fruits early, susceptible to root knot nematodes
Oregano		vigorous pot grower
pansies	spring
Parsley
peanuts	winter-spring	Harvested in November-December
perennial coriander
Pigeon Pea		great bushes with lots of pods
Pumpkin (butternut)	winter	really vigorous growth, quick to die off
Pumpking (uchiki kuri)	winter-spring	slower to start, lots of flowers
radishes (sparkler)	winter	super fast to harvest
radishes (sparkler)	spring	super fast to harvest, needs a bit more water
radishes (sparkler)	summer	too hot
rocket	spring - winter
rosella	spring-summer	grows well from seeds, buds on early
Roses
Snake beans (black)	spring-summer	Not coping well with dry hot weather, maybe not in good soil
soy beans	winter	They did okay but not great, started dying off when it warmed up a little
Spring onions	winter-spring	Struggle street - need more nutrients than they got maybe?
sunflowers	spring-summer
sweet leaf		got off on the wrong foot when Tika dug it up, but starting to grow again
sweet potato (orange)	all	slow to start, vigorous in summer
taro	summer	garden bed too dry for corms to grow successfully
Tea	spring	dead.
Thyme		vigorous pot grower
Tomato (apollo improved)	winter-spring	vigorous producer, less quality flavour, more resistant to fruit fly
Tomato (black russian)	winter-spring	big delicious fruit, v susceptible to fruit fly
tomatoes (cherry)	winter-spring	natural sprouters, quick to fruit and prolific
Vanilla orchid
Vietnamese mint	winter-spring	died off in dry hot time
yacon	spring	Only two rhizomes grew, and this was 6-18 weeks after planting
zucchini (black jack)	winter	vigorous producer, some susceptibility to fruit fly, died back when weather warmed up but maybe it was just at the end of its life?
zucchini (golden)	spring-summer	no fruit set without maggots