February 2008

2nd February

I FINALLY got some Bunching Onions from my Father Inlaw, and today I planted them. From one bunch I had enough to plant out two rows! One row has gone along the back of the bottom vegie patch as a couch grass barroer. The other row is at the front of the bottom vegie garden waiting patiently for a friend of mine to come and collect them.
I received 3 Lazy Housewife beans in a seed swap and of those seeds - one sprouted. I have planted this seedling out next to my Packham Pear. With any luck I will get some beans to save for next Spring.
I've been a bit seed happy today also. I planted half a packet of Spring Onion seeds into a poly box, loads of Sweet Peas along the top chook wire fences and the top arch and another packet of Gladalan White Onions into the patch in the bottom vegie patch - I think the original seedlings have died off.

3rd February

Today we went off to the local market on a hunt for a Nelly Kelly Passionfruit vine to replace the one I killed this Summer. Instead we came home with a Thornless Backberry, a thornless Loganberry and a Silvanberry. The first two will replace the ones that died along the top chook wire fence. The last one we bought on a whim because it is our daughters fave berry. While we were planting the berries, I noticed that the loofahs and cotton plants both have flower buds! How exciting :-D

7th February

I collected a pile of Parsnip and Carrot seeds today. The parsnip are easily recognisable, but the carrot seeds are very different to the ones you buy in the shops. Each seed is covered with a spiky husk that apparently helps the seed to catch in the ground, and therefore increasing the chances of germination. Commercial seeds are purged of this husk (I had no idea why), but I have not idea how do do this - or to what advantage it would have. I also collected a small amount of seed from the Radishes and Crimson Silverbeet. The later of which appears to be setting masses of seed - but only a few seeds appear to be fertile.
Tempting fate - I planted some Blacktail Mountain Watermelon seedlings along hte wall in the bottom vegie patch. I have no idea why I planted these seeds so late in the season, but I did. And now they have sprouted and I am compelled to plant the resultant seedlings.
I also planted some Brandywine Tomato seedlings - once again, I know it's too late in the season, but I seem to get them obssession with Summer ending and hope I can delay it by planting out seedlings. On a more practical note, I planted some Early Prince Cauliflower seedlings into the Pink Fir Potato row. I also had a lone Snowpea seedling that I planted out at the base of the Golden Queen Peach. It appeared to have weird green and pink nodes all along its root system. I dunno what that means, but I'll keep an eye on it none the less.

16th February

Once again I planted more seeds today:
*Sugarloaf Cabbage - along the Grape Pergola
*Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce - in the top vegie patch
*Brocolli - into the second row on the new vegie patch
*Oriental Radish - top vegie patch
*Pak Choi - 1st row of the bottom vegie patch
*Green Asparagus - next the the gate my hubby made
*Spring Onions - 2nd row of bottom vegie patch
*Galaxy Mixed Sweet Peas - along the bottom chook wire fence
*Celery - into the 4th row of the new vegie patch
*All Seasons Carrots - along the concrete path
*Parsley - also along the concrete patch

21st February

I can feel the urge to plant peas slowly taking me over. I submitted to the urge and planted a whole pile of Snowpeas along the wire fence in the top vegie patch. I held back on the other four varieties I have. I also planted another packet of Swede seeds in the bottom vegie patch to fill up the gaps in the Swede patch.
I found my first Loofah fruit flowering today - of course on the one day that there are no flowering male flowers! So I used a nearly dead one that flowered yesterday. Hopefully there was still enough pollen on it to do the trick.

22nd February

I bit the bullet and weeded the bottom two rows in the new vegie patch. And in the process, collected a laundry basket full of Carrot seeds {shock}! Some of these I scattered back into the first row, laid down some chook poo and covered the lot heavily in straw mulch. I also collected the Leek seed heads, but I don't think they are quite dry yet. At the base of each Leek plant though there were 2-3 bulbets of which I replanted. I find this the easier way to grow Leeks. While all this was happening, I had Bob lined up at hte fence waiting for lizards to appear as I moved stuff around - let's just say that she ended up one VERY full and contented chook by the end of the day :-)

23rd February

Today I picked three different types of beans for dinner - Purple Kings, Yellow Butters and Blue Lake Green Beans. Some type of boring insect is attacking hte Butter Beans in the new vegie garden. Luckily the patch in the kids garden are safe from infestation so far - the chooks enjoyed the protein packed ones though!
The insane urge to plant Peas overtook me again today. So I planted Sugarsnaps into the top vegie patch and LOADS of Telephone Peas alround the Teepee next to the kids vegie patch.

29th February

{shhh} I think Autumn is arriving...