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Ray Goddard 🧑🏻‍🌾 Gardening

@farmer__ray

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🍅 Backyard gardener
🏅Award-winning veggie grower
🥒 Sharing my garden updates, tips & tricks
📍Sydney, AUS 🇦🇺

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🍓 My Lowanna Strawberries are simply the best hands down! 🍓🤚

🍓 This first gem of the season turned out to be in the shape of a hand are my favourite strawberries for so many reasons:

✅️ They are sweet in what you expect from strawberries
✅️ Very prolific, plants can grow twice the size compared to other varieties
✅️ Fruits are very large compared to other varieties
✅️ Developed in Australia, they are suited from temperate to tropical climates
❗️✅️ Have a special talent! They are
'Day Nuetral' which means they will keep producing fruit when temperatures are between 20⁰ -30⁰C 😋

🍓 I apply Lurcerne mulch around the plants not only to keep the fruit clean & conserve water acting like a mulch.
Lurcerne is a slow release organic fertiliser as it breaks down, adding vital nutrients to the soil. 🍓 🌿👌

🍓 Hello Spring! 🌸 🐝 🦋
It's Strawberry season! 🍓 😋

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#lowannastrawberry #strawberries
#backyardfarmer #spring by @farmer__ray

🌼 Happy Flower Friday 🌼

🌼 Just like fireworks! Clivias are a burst of colour lasting for several weeks!
They thrive in shaded areas of the garden or where it will receive just an hour or two of direct sunlight ⛅️

🌼 Flowering from late Winter through to mid Spring, these gems are ideal in borders, or in clumps beneath trees 🌳
Clivias can be grown in garden pots making excellent cut flowers 💐

📍The soil must have good drainage as they don't like wet feet.
Clivias are easy to grow!
Multiplying as they grow, dividing plant clusters for transplanting is simple 🌿😉

🌼 The orange - apricot shades are the most the popular colour!
I also now have a pale butter - yellow variety that has the most softest tones when viewed in dappled light! 😍

Hello Spring 🐝🌸🦋🌼

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday #clivia #flowergarden #spring by @farmer__ray

🍅 My Tommy Toe Cherry Tomatoes @yatesgardening are outperforming any other variety of snack sized tomatoe! 🍅 😋

🌿 In my temperate climate the vines have been producing high yielding small apricot sized gems for almost two years!

😲 Yes! My Tommy Toe Cherry Tomato plants last for almost eight full seasons!
The key is location: full sun & give some protection from the colder winter nights!
Naturally the fruit production slows down during the cooler months!
For my climate zone cold nights lasts for only about six weeks of the year!

📌 This variety is indeterminate: vine climbing, producing fruit continuously.
They are disease resistant & any signs of browning leaves are removed!
Pruning to remove side laterals & regular side dressings of nutrients through the warmer months is key! 🌿 🍅 😉

Cheers Ray 🙂 #FarmerRay

#tommytoetomatoes
#tomates #backyardfarmer
#growyourown by @farmer__ray

🥕 Carrots are a must have vegetable to have in your garden & as I have a temperate climate I can grow these gems all year round!

🥕 A big bonus: Baby Carrots @yatesgardening are ready to eat from any size! As seen in the photos, when thinning out is required as they grow, the smaller carrots can also be used! 😋
This gives their harvest time lasting over many weeks!

🥕 For the size of a carrot seed & the amount you recieve in a packet, add to this their high germination rate, Carrots are value for money.

🥕 🌱 I will let a few carrots grow to flowering stage to set seed for future sowings! 🥕 😉

🥕 📌 Soil preparation is key, making sure it's friable, has good drainage & don't add any nutrients whilst growing as just a little compost added prior to sowing is all you need! 👌

Cheers Ray 🙂 #FarmerRay

#carrots #lovecarrots #vegetablegarden
#backyardfarmer by @farmer__ray

🥒🍅 Autumn Harvest gift basket! 🎁

🌱 It's very satisfying to grow your own & share the spoils with family & friends! 👌

🌽 This basket included Corn, Cherry Tomatoes, Apple & Green Cucumbers,
Asian & Standard Radishes,
Marrow & Pak Choi! 😋

🍂 Growing & sharing! 🍂

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#autumnharvest #foodgarden #sharing #gardening by @farmer__ray

🌼 Happy Flower Friday! 🌸

🏵 🌃 Zinnias can be a shining light at night time too, creating some magic with the addition of some garden decor! 😍

💮 Recently at Easter I posted my Whirlygig @fothergillsaus Zinnias were starting to bloom.
These long time favourites known as Spring & Summer flowering annuals also perform well from late Summer sowings to be in full bloom during Autumn too! 🌱 ☀️ 🍂
Climate zones play a big role on the length of the growing season.
My temperate to sub-tropical climate allows these gems to be in flower for most of the year.
Now just a few weeks later, the flowers are increasing in numbers significantly! 😉

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday #zinnias #flowers #mygarden by @farmer__ray

🌼 Happy Flower Friday! 🌼

🌼 We all know Marigolds!
A traditional favourite, with so many reasons why we should have them in our gardens! 👌

🌼 Marigolds are maintenance free, easily self seed & can be transplanted anywhere from a full sun to part shade area of the garden.
Window boxes & pots are also the perfect choice!

🐝 These gems attract pollinators: bees, butterflies & also Parasitic Wasps & Lacewings which in turn prey on harmful insect pests! 🦋😉

🌼 Regarded as annuals, Marigolds just know when to start new seedlings ensuring there are always some in flower virtually all year round in my temperate climate! 🌱

🌼 🌼 They are THE ideal companion flower in the vegetable garden! 🌼 🌼

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday #marigold #traditional #flowers by @farmer__ray

🐰 🏵 🌸 Happy Easter! 🍫 🐣 🌼

🌱 It's the perfect time to be out in the garden 😊

🌸 My Zinnias are loving the autumn conditions with the combination of frequent light rain & ideal overnight temperatures! 🌧

🌼 Zinnias are known for their array of colours, and Whirlygig Mixed @fothergillsaus are a beautiful mix of bicoloured blooms! 😍

🏵 🌱 These gems can be grown from Spring through to late Autumn, taking 10 - 12 weeks from sowing seed to start flowering over several months! 👌

💐 Ideal as cut flowers to fill a vase to brighten any space with instant colour, they are perfect for companion planting in the vegetable garden as pollinators just love them! 🐝 🦋

🐰 Happy Easter everyone! 🐰

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#zinnias #easter #flowergarden #autumn by @farmer__ray

💮 Happy Flower Friday 💮

💮 🫚 With a touch of spice! 🫚 💮

💮 🌿 Growing Turmeric for its versatile spice is one thing, however this gem produces the most detailed & majestic of flowers! 😍

💮 🫚 My Turmeric has started flowering, indicating harvest is approaching in the next few months.
I've grown Turmeric now for a number of years & every year it's such a nice surprise when the flower spikes make their appearance! 😍
From starting out planting tubers to harvest time takes 8 - 10 months!
Our temperate climate with high humidity during Summer & Autumn provide the perfect conditions!

🪴 I grow Turmeric in large pots, located in a shade house creating a micro climate & at the same time providing protection from direct sunlight! 😉

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday
#turmeric
#foodgarden
#flowers by @farmer__ray

🐞🐝 A repost from 2022!

Take a closer look 👀 in your garden there are teams of workers doing their thing! 😍

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#reels
#mygarden
#lovethis
#garden by @farmer__ray

🌹Happy Flower Friday 🌹

🌹My favourite Hybrid Tea Granada Rose @garden_express is showing a beautiful flush of early Autumn blooms! 🌹😍

🌹 Blends of pinks, reds & tinges of yellow in each bloom paints the perfect picture at sunrise & sunset! 🌅 🌄

🌹Hybrid Tea Roses flower mostly on long single stems making them ideal as a cut flower for a beautiful vase display! 💐

🌹They are highly fragrant flowering from late Spring to late Autumn! 👌

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday
#roses
#granadarose
#hybridtearose by @farmer__ray

🌸 Happy Flower Friday 🌸

🌸 Make that:
Happy Frangipani Flower Friday! 🌸😍

🌸 My first flowers appearing from a cutting made five years ago! 👌

🔸️ The first photo shows three different blooms at different ages.
The bloom starts out bright pink, then white / yellow tones blend in, & finally the bloom fades to white, occurring over several weeks! 🌸 🌸 🌸
I had some cuttings growing in a pot for a few years & a year ago transplanted them into a full sun location in the garden! 🌿 ☀️

🌸 This first cluster has ten blooms emerging one at a time ensuring there are always some flowers over a long time.
Frangipanis are easy to propagate & once established are low maintenance.
There are many colour variations to choose, thriving in tropical to temperate climates.
They are a very large deciduous shrub. Pruning Frangipani will maintsin shape & size according to their growing space! 🌳

Cheers Ray 🙂 #_FarmerRay

#happyflowerfriday #frangipani #flowers
#beautiful by @farmer__ray