December 2007

The garden in December



5th December

Today I planted stuff.

Seedlings

*Yellow Squash (in with the Roses)
*Capsicums as a border in the top vegie patch
*4 Amish Paste Tomatoes in the Butterbean row (I noticed that the Butter Beans are sprouting already!)
*I didn't plant this one - but I found a Moon & Stars Watermelon seedling in the top vegie garden - and I have NO IDEA how it got there {shrugs}

Seeds

*Giant Russian Sunflower - in 2 patches in the Kids vegie patch, in the Butter Bean row and scattered into the first 2 rows of the new vegie patch where all my carrots and leeks are going to seed
*Luffa - next to the berry arch
*Rockmelon - into the old potato patch
*Oriental Radish - into the vegie patch in the 4th row across
*Lebanese Cucumber - in with the cucumber seedlings
*Super Sweet Bi-Colour Corn - in the existing corn row to fill up the gaps
*Blue Lake and Purple King Beans up along the Kiwi Trellis
*Blue Bantam Peas - along the top chook wire fence
*Broccoli - into the 1st row of the bottom vegie patch
*Celery - into the 3rd row of the bottom vegie patch
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet - into the 4th row of the bottom vegie patch
*Beetroot - into the 5th row of the bottom vegie patch
*Brussels Sprouts - into the 6th row of the bottom vegie patch

I also picked the Oats and left them out on the path to dry before I Winnow them.

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6th December

I cut up some 2 lt milk bottles today and made large labels (30 in total) for the vegie garden. I thread these labels onto bamboo sticks. I found the smaller labels I use for my seedling trays were getting lost in amongst the crazy growth that's happening at the moment.

Between the poles of the grape vine pergola I piled up Dynamic Lifter and potting mix and planted Moon & Stars Watermelon seedlings. I then tucked them in with some straw mulch and sprinkled some Californian Poppy seeds to keep them company.

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11th December

Today I weeded (will it never end?!) and planted more seedlings:

*Decorative Gourds - into the bottom poly box stack
*Some Brandywine Tomatoes - into the Beetroot row in the bottom vegie patch
*Luffas - next to the berry arch
*Pigeon Peas - down next to the bottom gate (and protected with milk bottles to keep the chooks out)
*Pickling Gherkins - along the fence in the Rose patch

I also took pictures of my first Amish Paste Tomato fruit. These are so special to me as they are the first tomatoes I have saved from seed. And tomatoes are the epitome of the vegetable gardener. I also found the first flowers on my son's watermelon vines - he was sooooooo excited!!

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15th December

I planted seeds today into poly boxes:

*Early Prince Cauliflower
*Amish Paste Tomato
*Snowpeas
*Eggplant
*Sweetie Tomato
*Hale's Best Rockmelon

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16th December

I planted more Giant Russian Sunflower seeds directly into the Butter Bean row. The pigeons are have soooo much fun digging them up for a meal - GRRRR! I also planted some around the grape vine pergola poles - I have this sudden urge to have masses of happy giant sunflowers. Of course they are planted too late in the season to get truly tall enough to be the true giants they should be, but happy I can live with. My daughter got in on the act also and planted some seed everywhere - should be interesting in a month or two.

I planted the Sugar cane (Finally!) into the kids vegie patch. I staked it and popped a ceramic fairy in front of it (the kids insisted the plant needed protecting. not sure what from - maybe them.

Planted the following seeds:

*Italian Parsley seeds (from my Primary School)
*Lollo Rosso Lettuce
*Motherwort
*Snapdragons (my daughter planted these)

Planted the following seedlings:

*Sweetie Tomatoes - in the kids vegie patch
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet - ditto
*Sugarbaby Watermelon - into the top poly box stack
*Brandywine Tomato (these look more like Eggplant than tomato) - into the bottom vegie patch
*Italian Basil - ditto
*Moonflower/Morning Glory - alternating along the bottom chook wire fence, but far enough back that they will be able to establish without the chooks pinching them.
*Capsicums - in top vegie patch as a border

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17th December

Today I picked the first (very small) potatoes!! We ate Pontiac, Banana and Dutch Cream potatoes for dinner. The Dutch cream were indescribably delicious. The creaminess of them were outstanding - I've never tasted anything like them.

Now, while my hubby was busy threading the wire rope through the grape vine pergola, he noticed blushes in the Anzac Peach tree. I had totally forgotten that they had flowered this year. The result was a dozen peaches!! White peaches are my favourite so I spent the evening sitting barefoot in the grass sipping green Fairy Bombs and sucking down overripe peaches - what a perfect end to a perfect day.

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23rd December

We went away for the weekend and tragedy struck! We had violent storms and as a result all our beautiful Anzac peaches have been ruined :(

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27th December

Today I weeded. Itgave me something to do while we waited for the plumber to come and unblock our drains. With the drought has come the need for our Poplar to find more water. Eventually we will have to replace the pipe it vandalised, but for the mean time the plumber removed the offending bits. Of course this pipe was situated exactly one metre away from my first fruiting Amish Paste Tomato plant - which is also the exact spot the plumber had to put the machine that removed the roots - not happy! {Shakes my fist at the injustice of it all}

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28th December

More weeding - the chooks are loving all the greenery.

I planted Rockmelon seedlings in the gap around the cherry tree and some Sugarbaby Watermelons into the Onion patch in the bottom garden (did I mention glut at all?). I also planted Snowpeas into the bare patch where I pulled out some dead broad beans yesterday.

Everywhere I look things are happening in our garden. It looks so preductive, but in reality it is just too early yet to be really eating much. Not even Silverbeet can be picked now! But the Corn is starting to flower so soon there will be that to eat. Ditto the Butternuts who are loving the heavy rains followed by the periods of hellish dryness. I found some (apparently) pumpkins seeds sprouting next to the Moon & Stars Watermelons - these have obviously come from the same parallel universe that the stray Watermelon came from in the top vegie patch {shrugs}

I got itchy fingers again today and just had to do stuff. So I started chipping out along the path edge so I can plant Alyssum seeds. I read (somewhere - where goddammit?!) recently that Alyssum can help regenerate clay soils and it can also (when established) deter the roots of such weeds are Couch grass - it is worth a shot I guess.

While shopping today (after deciding we needed more flowers - not just Alyssum) I bought more seeds: Iceland Poppy Mix, Chrystal Palace Lobelia, Johnny Jump Up Heartsease and 2 ppackets of Pastel Carpet Mix Alyssum. I also bought a packet of Baby Pak Carrots as the Carrot tape we put in the kids vegie ptach never germinated.

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29th December

In a moment of sheer stupidity this morning I finished weeding along the garden path - by the afternoon the temperature had reached 40 degrees.

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30th December

Today I sprinkled two packets of Aylssum seed along the newly weeded path edge. I then covered this with straw and watered in well. I also FINALLY planted our two new Blueberries into the currant patch. I actually thought one was dead, but when I pulled it out of the pot I discovered a new side shoot. I must remember to mollycoddle this plant - Blueberries are NOT the cheapest of plants - I really don't want to lose this one. While planting the blueberry out, I discovered our first asparagus shoot!!!!!!!! Hopefully next year we will be feasting on fresh asparagus - Mmmmmm - Yummo! I also sprinkled some Poppy seeds through out the currant patch just for some colour.

While weeding the kids vegie patch (I know they should be weeding, but I felt like weeding - which is REALLY unusual) I discovered 2 teeny weeny watermelons on my son's plant and one on my daughter's plant - boy were they excited!! They couldn't quite grasp how long it actually takes for them to get from tiny to edible though. After weeding the patch I then planted in some Cos lettuce seedlings as well as some Cauliflowers. Then I planted some Butterbeans to replace the ones that died around my son's teepee. I also sprinkled some Green Mignonette and Heartsease seeds around the edges of the teepees and at the front entrance to the garden.

I planted some more Cauliflower seedlings along the grape vine pergola in anticipation of its bareness in Winter. I was amazed to watch the cabbage moths head straight for them once I had finished and gone inside for a cuppa!

The day then heated up to the extreme - I am now to scared to go outside to see what made it and what didn't :(