Ian's microfarm.

[kingofnobbys]

Waste Not Want Not Mini-projects.= Project A = 1m x 2m garden work bench /seat made from 100x100mm post offcuts & 75x200mm sleeper offcuts.


I didn't let much the 100x100mm F4 pine posts or 75x200mm Sienna HW sleepers go to waste ( or the tip ) , any pieces over 300mm long set aside and utilised.

Hossein suggested a stronger corner join than the basic version I designed. Bit more fiddlely making the 3 way tenon & mortise join but much more durable and strong.

I had 50mm HD casters attached to the legs to facility moving the bench about it is VERY HEAVY !!! and hard to move otherwise.

I had the underside of the bench coated with leftover Diggers Eco In-Ground Timber Protectapine sealer and the sides, legs and top coated with Coat the legs, sides an top with Cabot's Clear Exterior Varnish Stain = CTB + Colonial Baltic stain.., as this bench-table will always be exposed to the elements.
Really nice colour :

The finished garden bench table

 

[kingofnobbys]

Waste Not Want Not Mini-projects.= Project b = 1m x 2m mobile garage work bench from 100x100mm post offcuts & topped with two sheets of 21mm thick floor ply .

ECOply 2400 x 1200 x 21mm F11 Plywood Flooring used as topping.

Hossein used 3 way tenon & mortise joints..

I had 50mm HD casters attached to the legs to facility moving the bench about it is VERY HEAVY !!! and hard to move otherwise.
I also had Goliath 140mm Stainless Steel Chest Handles attached to the legs to facilitate the easy movement of this very heavy bench around in and outside the garage - will eventually mount a bench drill on it too.
Coat the legs, sides an top with Cabot's Clear Exterior Varnish Stain = CTB + Colonial Baltic stain..

Finished bench

 

[kingofnobbys]

Waste Not Want Not Mini-projects.= Project c = 1m x 1m x 0.2m mobile planter made entirely from 75x200mm sleeper offcuts with lift off 1m x 1m x 0.2m depth extender , held in place by 4 x M16 threadbars that simply drop into aloned holes in each corner.

Arranged the sleepers in the base so there was a small gap between each adjacent sleeper to permit good drainage.

My calculations were this would be about 520kg with 0.2 of soil in it, and 1040kg with 0.4m of soil in so a SUPER HEAVY DUTY set of coaters were called for to make it moveable without resorting to needing to used a fork lift.

Bought and fitted 4 x Super HD 3" casters

 

[kingofnobbys]

Update on germinations in ziplocks 11/3/21

oregano

spring onions

chives

cherry tomatoes *

prosperity tomatoes *

grosse lisse tomatoes

sugarloaf cabbages *

golden acre cabbages *

silverbeets

* ready to be transplanted into minipots

 

[Claudiusx]

Just curiously, why are you starting them in baggies? Is it just an experiment? I only ask because it looks like in the pictures they are already starting to get pretty leggy. I failed with all of my indoor starts last year because they got leggy. I didn't have enough light for them indoors and none of them were successful once planted outside.

I've never tried sprouting them in baggies like that, so I have no experience at all on if that is what is actually happening.
I do have a few different varieties of rose seeds in ziplock baggies that I have in my fridge that I'm trying to cycle through a cold cycle to get them to sprout. But I'm planning on transferring to a pot instantly once I see a root form if they even will form in the fridge (i've read 4-6 weeks in the fridge, then room temp until they start sprouting)

Good luck with yours.

-Brandon

 

[kingofnobbys]

Just curiously, why are you starting them in baggies? Is it just an experiment? I only ask because it looks like in the pictures they are already starting to get pretty leggy. I failed with all of my indoor starts last year because they got leggy. I didn't have enough light for them indoors and none of them were successful once planted outside.

I've never tried sprouting them in baggies like that, so I have no experience at all on if that is what is actually happening.

-Brandon

Called my elder sister this afternoon who has a market farm ( near the Sunshine Coast in SE QLD ) , she suggested the ziplock germination approach is OK for some plants after I saw a few Utubes that made it looks OK , she uses it to start off her some herbs and veg ( in commercial quantities ) so I decided to give a go , advantage is you soon see what seeds are viable and the seedlings then go into peat pots to harden outside or direct into the ground .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=jw4qcNOeAxA
another approach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=w2DvUh6uLIM
( I refresh the wee airgap using a straw every couple of days - plants need CO2 and H2O to grow , and in the sealed bag , the CO2 will become depleted over 2 or 3 days , and the moisture will permeate through plastic and escape ).
another approach ( I might try )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=PiQHGJUjVAs

Transplanting to seedling trays or coir pots ( leggyness due to prop in low light )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qg9RlStYTQ

UPDATE :: the sprouts are a bugger to extract in tact from the soggy paper towels (roots really get in amongst the paper fibres and grip , very hard to get sprouts out without breaking off some of the root system , nonetheless I managed to get some out more or less in tact and transferred them to mini-coir pots --- not optimistic they'll survive and it's really fiddlely .

Think , unless I they survive and grow - I'll put the papertowel & ziplock method down as a flop.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Some of my native flowering shrubs seeds arrived today.

Qld blue grasstree = xanthorrhoea glauca

Quite a lot of these growing on farms , in local national parks and behind Stockton Dunes Complex.

dwarf wattle = acacia drummondii sp drummondii

mozzie repellant tea tree = leptospermum liversidgel
http

scarlet banksia = banksia cocoinea

nodding banksia = bankia nutas v nutans

postrate blechnum banksia = banksia biechnifolia

Will be starting off the banksias in repurposed clear food tubs ( recommended starting these with lids on top ) , same with the glasstree .
Would be quicker to start off with tube stock or a more mature specimen or two in a pot , but with my blackfingers - this could become very pricey only to have these "bullet proof natives" die . Cheaper to cultivate some patience and start from seeds.

 

[kingofnobbys]

13 MARCH , bumper batch of seeds from Woolworths today with our weekly contact free hpme delivered grocery shop .

WOOLWORTHS POTS OF FUN batch 5

Perenial flowers
pansy admire = viola cornuta
aster = callscephus chinerisis
phlox = phlox drummondii
ZINNIA = Zinnia elegans
swan river daisey = bracyscome iberidifolia
poppy = pataver rhoeas
salvia = valvia viridis

new flower for our garden

Herbs
thyme --thymus vulgaris
oregano = oreganum vulgare

Veggies
carrot - all season = daucus carota
tomato - cherry = solanum lycopersicum
SILVERBEET = B vulgaris … got 4 spare seed packs of this now
spinach - perpetual = beta vulgagaris subsp. Cicia

new from Woolworths ( already had a seedpack in my bulk order of seeds).

 

[Claudiusx]

UPDATE :: the sprouts are a bugger to extract in tact from the soggy paper towels (roots really get in amongst the paper fibres and grip , very hard to get sprouts out without breaking off some of the root system , nonetheless I managed to get some out more or less in tact and transferred them to mini-coir pots --- not optimistic they'll survive and it's really fiddlely .

Think , unless I they survive and grow - I'll put the papertowel & ziplock method down as a flop.

If you have the space on the papertowel to do so, it's probably better to just cut the paper towel and plant the seedling with the paper towel into the soil. Glad you mentioned that because I would have probably tried to do the same thing if my rose seeds sprouted. Now I will just cut the paper to save the delicate root.

Those are some cool plants. We have nothing like that around here, 'Cept for the bluegrass tree. Not sure if we have exactly that, but a few plants around here look like that.

-Brandon

 

[kingofnobbys]

UPDATE :: the sprouts are a bugger to extract in tact from the soggy paper towels (roots really get in amongst the paper fibres and grip , very hard to get sprouts out without breaking off some of the root system , nonetheless I managed to get some out more or less in tact and transferred them to mini-coir pots --- not optimistic they'll survive and it's really fiddlely .

Think , unless I they survive and grow - I'll put the papertowel & ziplock method down as a flop.

If you have the space on the papertowel to do so, it's probably better to just cut the paper towel and plant the seedling with the paper towel into the soil. Glad you mentioned that because I would have probably tried to do the same thing if my rose seeds sprouted. Now I will just cut the paper to save the delicate root.

Those are some cool plants. We have nothing like that around here, 'Cept for the bluegrass tree. Not sure if we have exactly that, but a few plants around here look like that.

-Brandon

If I try paper towel again , I wont let the seedlings get as big and leggy next time and will transplant to a mini-pot as soon as I see any leaf formation , think to I'll put the tub in sunnier spot so they don't grow so leggy .
OR
I'll put a little wad of paper in round Plastic Jello/Shot Cups , 4oz size (1.75" height x 2.9" top diameter 1.9" bottom diameter) or 2oz size (1.18" height x 2.4" top diameter 1.75" bottom diameter) would be ideal size and are stackable , just a wad of damp facial tissue or dunny paper ( these papers are made to fall apart instead of paper towel maybe ) might work better for germinating seeds soil free.

This is what wild grasstrees look like -

very common to come across these around here in the local national parks, on crown land, on cattle & sheep stations, dairy farms, being the dune complex at Stockton Beach, in suburban remnant areas of bush.

Grass trees grow right up to the coast on headlands and in coastal bushlands , ie Grass Tree Track is a 900m, grade 5 One way hike located in Munmorah State Conservation Area, New South Wales. ( 45 min drive from my home )

The young leaves are edible and sweet tasting ( used to pluck a few to nibble on when I hunting and camping with dad - who was a bushman-stockman (aussie version of cowboy) and pro croc hunter around Normanton QLD as young man before he volunteered to join the Australian Infantry in 1939.

 

[Claudiusx]

Oh nevermind then, we don't have anything that looks like that mature LOL.

I mean they kind of look like smaller versions of palm trees around here. With bladed leaves instead of palm frawns.

Yeah, leggy-ness was my major downfall last year. Luckily, most things I cared about actually did well with me just planting the seed into the beds themselves. Then I didn't have to worry about slowly hardening them off over the course of a week. Don't have time for that this year.

-Brandon

 

[kingofnobbys]

The monastery and bishopary that was in my old street ( when I was a kid ) had about 30 of those behind the front fence , huge old things been there for over 150 yrs now.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Backyard microfarming is becoming a "thing" here again , like it was in the early half of the 20th century and when I was kid ( lots of families had productive veggie patched on their 1/4 acre suburban blocks ).
Unfortunately suburban blocks have shrunk over last 40 yrs , so lots don't have the space , and those who are renters can't microfarm either because they are living in appt blocks , duplexes and in high rises .
The urban farmers taking over someone else's backyard as a reprieve from the pandemic
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/the-urban-farmers-taking-over-someone-else-s-backyard-as-a-reprieve-from-the-pandemic/ar-BB1eNgbu?ocid=msedgdhp

 

[kingofnobbys]

Been having a bit of an internet chat with a distant cousin who lives in Scotland.

He put me onto this : carrots in a bucket ( pot ) , he recommends 30 carrots per 10" diam pot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7tLgxNfk4
He germinates ON PAPER TOWEL (but in a plastic tub not a ziplock bag).
templates he recommends are avail here : http://abarothsworld.com/Garden/Garde...
​
The templates on paper look like , these are transposed to Polystyrene or plastic sheets with holes in place and look like

My pots are 40cm ( 16" diam ) so I'll be working out templates for this size shortly .
see http://abarothsworld.com/Garden/GardenTemplates.htm

This is a common round/pipe packing problem encountered in engineering and there are known solutions also known as the "Traveling Salesman Problem" (TSP). Thus (very near) optimal tours are provided for every packing. For more examples see http://www.packomania.com/

7 small circles in a large circle

12 small circles in a large circle

19 small circles in a large circle

30 small circles in a large circle

37 small circles in a large circle

55 small circles in a large circle

to get same spacing as the Utube guy did for his 10" diam pot in a 40cm diam pot I calculate the following spacing , can fit 91 with a same spacing !!!

Summary of packing template data

 

[kingofnobbys]

Saw this brilliant idea on ABC on Friday night

Sowing and germination peas in a rain gutter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHThKr2swhc