Barkway House Gardening in Millchester | Urban Farm

Barkway House Gardening

Locality: Millchester

Phone: +61 439 303 614

Address: 96 Jardine St 4820 Millchester, QLD, Australia

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Likes: 108

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• Urban Farm
• Fruit & vegetable shop
• Grocers

24.01.2022 This week we started planting the rear paddock extension. Of the 32 new beds, 17 were planted, with some still waiting on seeds and seedlings. All the beds still needed forming, and manure added, as well as mulch or shade remainder should be completed next week. Trying to do three beds a day, inclusive of the front paddock beds, which also need to be kept working.

20.01.2022 This weeks harvest, 10 boxes...sold in a day. Potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, snow peas, green and purple beans, capsicum, eggplants, lettuces kale, cabbage, and some extra bits and pieces. Best week yet.

18.01.2022 Love buying new seeds...Kate hunt will be happy with red cabbage (mammoth red)

18.01.2022 With the fabulous assistance of Kurt Stein, I trailed the use of a bobcat and walk along tractor today, to speed up the process of creating new beds. I normally scrape off the grass with a hand held hoe, but we used the bobcat to do the same thing. In the wet, soggy conditions we had this week, we took off too much topsoil, but if the ground was dry, it would have worked really well. The bobcat also had a double ripper attachment which certainly didn't work as well as my broad fork. The walk along tractor, however, reduced the surface 10cm to a fine tilth in 30 seconds or so, which would have taken me an hour or two by hand. So it looks like I clear the surface with a bobcat or similar on a dry day. Then water deeply, followed by a broad fork, and final prep using a walk behind tractor. Trial complete...very happy.

18.01.2022 Some of the produce going into this weeks boxes

17.01.2022 hi all, its been a tumultuous couple of weeks at my little farm, and I apologise for not having any updates. In September I decided to sell more of my produce on charters towers locally grown as I hadn't really been supporting it. I'm afraid that in the transition I may have upset some customers, which I apologise for whole heartedly. It was not my intention. However, I believe the decision to sell on the Facebook page is a good one in the long run. Initially, it was very bu...sy and I have been trying to advertise any left over full boxes, garden salad boxes and leafy green boxes over the week. Growing pains...unfortunately, while being focussed on the selling side of my business, I took my eye off the garden... and we we had a bit of a reticulation disaster over the school holiday period, when I somehow managed to switch off the retic prior to taking my kids away to Bowen for four days. The soil was already suffering from the sudden increase in spring temperatures, and my tinkering to fix the problem just made it much worse! I lost all of my seedling plants and even some moe advanced beds like the beans were totally wrecked. This also coincided with the annual attack of the caterpillars...which always seems to happen around this time of the year. The overall result is that my efforts to expand my offering were slowed, and nearly half the garden needs replanting. So sorry to anyone who was awaiting joining in on some regular boxes. in the meantime, some of my fruit tress started fruiting for the first time. I have cashew apples, jack fruit, longons, white and black mulberries as well as the mangos and bananas currently in flower

16.01.2022 Weekly update for the patch

12.01.2022 My new toy... A greenhouse! I know, it's small, but it has growth potential! Well I reserve the right to change my mind, and I've had enough extra interest this week, that I went out and spent money on a new green house, shelves and (so far ) 1000 extra seedlings. I've organised a tractor to increase the size of my gardens by 60% ( should happen in two weeks). It's part of a longer term plan to provide locally grown produce to charters towers and the region, home grown and home delivered. This is a significant step for Barkway House and the "Charters Towers Locally Grown" Facebook page as it potentially doubles the number of members receiving locally grown Vege boxes. Yey!

06.01.2022 For those that have been buying kale, some interesting info care of a popular gardening mag and Peter Cundall.

03.01.2022 Big increase in the size of the garden today, doubling the potential growing area. Now I just have to fill it with seedlings! Big thanks to Tony and Deeanne Mc Mahan

03.01.2022 Hi all, it's been a long time since I've added to this page, so a quick update. I was hoping to start the season early this year, and started planting seedlings and seeds in January, but was beaten by the weather. It wasn't totally unexpected, but I thought by using lots of shade cloth etc, that I might be able to beat the odds. Weeks of plus 35 degree weather are not conducive to growing seedlings though, and I've now put things back until April, when temps should start to d...rop. Also, I've decided to stay small, and limit myself to my current 10 or 15 regular customers, plus or minus some sales on the locally grown Facebook page. Probably won't replace anyone who leaves either. I didn't make any money last year, and although I know I made some novice errors that could possibly double production, it still wouldn't make a minimum wage, and I worked seriously long hours last year. So it's back to doing this as a hobby and not a job. It's back to feeding the family and being a gardener and enjoying the garden. Might buy some sheep...

03.01.2022 First tomato of the season, weighing in at a respectable 400g. And it tastes so much better than the store stuff that I've had to live with for the last 6 months!

01.01.2022 Indian spiced radish and pumpkin...for anyone wondering what to do with all those radishes and pumpkins we've had in the boxes...this tastes great!