I suspect Spring is coming early this year. I saw a whole street lined with blossom laden trees a couple of weeks ago. Then, in the last week, all the wattle has come out. It's a worry. Wattle should come out first, but not until August or September. The blossom should follow a few weeks after that. Some of my fruit trees have buds that are starting to swell - and leaves that haven't yet dropped from this season past.
July is notoriously the coldest month of the year. We pass the shortest day back in late June, with the assumption that the weather will slowly warm with the increasing length in daylight hours. This just isn't the case. July comes on Midwinter's heels like a bat out of hell. Biting back hard with frosts, anything that dares to raise their heads to the light. I worry what will happen if everything does burst forward into Spring glory. Will the frosts come late and cut everything down?
I think I will cover everything in plastic this year, at least until September - maybe even October.
Showing posts with label melbourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melbourne. Show all posts
Monday, July 7, 2008
5th July 2008
I went nuts today and planted out more seeds than I will ever need for Spring! I;m going to give block planting a go. I know that according to Permaculture principles, this is discouraged. The theory is that pests like certain plants, and if you plant them all together it is like an 'All you can Eat' restaurant. But I find in my garden, that by spreading everything out all over the place, everything is betting flattened. My theory is that pests can only eat so much. If I can plant MORE that they ca eat i the one sitting, then I might just have some left over for us to eat.
So what did I plant?
10 Spaghetti Squash 40 Snake Beans
10 Hales Best Rockmelon 60 Pastel Carpet Alyssum
20 Pickling Cucumbers 20 Pumpkins (Variety unknown, but very large seeds)
20 Lebanese Cucumbers 10 Organic Kent Pumpkins
10 Cotton 10 Capsicum
10 Thyme 40 Amish Paste Tomato
30 Royal Carpet Alyssum 20 Jen's Bush Pumpkins
40 Butternut Pumpkin 40 Brandywine Tomato
10 Gourd (Unknown - maybe Luffa or Bottle?)
So as you can see, there is going to be a LOT of incestuous Curcurbita love affairs going on this Summer - Who knows what sorts of pumpkins I'm gonna get next year {shrugs}
Yesterday, I also bought Rhubarb and Asparagus crowns.
So what did I plant?
10 Spaghetti Squash 40 Snake Beans
10 Hales Best Rockmelon 60 Pastel Carpet Alyssum
20 Pickling Cucumbers 20 Pumpkins (Variety unknown, but very large seeds)
20 Lebanese Cucumbers 10 Organic Kent Pumpkins
10 Cotton 10 Capsicum
10 Thyme 40 Amish Paste Tomato
30 Royal Carpet Alyssum 20 Jen's Bush Pumpkins
40 Butternut Pumpkin 40 Brandywine Tomato
10 Gourd (Unknown - maybe Luffa or Bottle?)
So as you can see, there is going to be a LOT of incestuous Curcurbita love affairs going on this Summer - Who knows what sorts of pumpkins I'm gonna get next year {shrugs}
Yesterday, I also bought Rhubarb and Asparagus crowns.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
30th June 2008
There is rain predicted for the entire week. So today I got out there while there was still a dry sky and cleaned out my hothouse. Now that that is done, I plan to fill it to overflowing with Spring seedlings. No, it's not to early...
Really...it's not...
Really...it's not...
29th June
There must be some type of astrological freak event occuring. Today I went crazy in the garden, so did the hubby and after chatting to a girlfriend, neither she, nor her husband could resist the call either.
There was sooooo much weeding. My fingers are numb and feel like rasps. When i pick up my knitting, the wool sticks to my battered fingers.
The carrots that were scattered in the chook poo patch germinated - and were promptly eaten by snails and slugs - so more went in today. I then covered the lot with Lucerne.
The Daisy bush was hacked back - now the Bay Tree has a chance to grow, or see sunlight at the very least... The cuttings went in along the chook fence and our border fence. It's winter and my absolute distain for exposed and bare fences is truly starting to rear its ugly head yet again.
I had a marvellous idea to use up the bits of cut poly pipe too. I used them as garden borders and transplanted all the rogue seedlings that had popped up in the old chicken coop now that hte hens had been moved. It looks neat - and cost us nothing. I carefully tucked in some lucerne around all the seedlings. Two of these new beds got sprinkled with a couple of buckets of chicken grain - here's hoping some of it sprouts and i get some chook feed for free! I also planted another of these new poly beds with the Asparagus seedlings - Yummo!
Then, just when I thought I had finished for the day - my MIL arrived with a punnet of Celery seedlings. They were dry and needed to be planted immediately.
Phew! What a crazy day!
There was sooooo much weeding. My fingers are numb and feel like rasps. When i pick up my knitting, the wool sticks to my battered fingers.
The carrots that were scattered in the chook poo patch germinated - and were promptly eaten by snails and slugs - so more went in today. I then covered the lot with Lucerne.
The Daisy bush was hacked back - now the Bay Tree has a chance to grow, or see sunlight at the very least... The cuttings went in along the chook fence and our border fence. It's winter and my absolute distain for exposed and bare fences is truly starting to rear its ugly head yet again.
I had a marvellous idea to use up the bits of cut poly pipe too. I used them as garden borders and transplanted all the rogue seedlings that had popped up in the old chicken coop now that hte hens had been moved. It looks neat - and cost us nothing. I carefully tucked in some lucerne around all the seedlings. Two of these new beds got sprinkled with a couple of buckets of chicken grain - here's hoping some of it sprouts and i get some chook feed for free! I also planted another of these new poly beds with the Asparagus seedlings - Yummo!
Then, just when I thought I had finished for the day - my MIL arrived with a punnet of Celery seedlings. They were dry and needed to be planted immediately.
Phew! What a crazy day!
8th June 2008
I got stuck into some badly neglected weeding today. The autumn leaves were dealt with as well. It felt good to tidy up - even if it was so ever bitterly cold. The exercise warmed me though. I planted more Sweet Peas along the chook fence (yep - they escaped! It's all kinda predictable now...) More Onions went in, as well as Turnips, Snow Peas and Massey Peas. I also sorted out all my lettuce seeds and planted the odds and ends underneath the Josterberry Tree.
May 2008
9th may
Not so many posts this month, it's cold outside...and the house is so cosy...
But I still managed to nick outside today and sprinkle two packets of Brown Onion seeds in the garlic patch - it's getting a bit crowded in there.
10th May
Well, so much for paving what is left of the lawn - we squeezed another bed in there today, now really, we will pave the rest...
14th May
With the new garden bed yesterday, we used the last of the chook poo. The resultant bald patch of lawn was covered in plenty of Carrot seed today. I raked a little dirt over the top and stuck an artifical bird on a stick into the middle. This keeps the birds away, but I nervously await the day (that I know is coming all too soon) that the birds wise up and move in to eat all my seeds.
23nd May
It's been so bitterly cold the last two days. I blow my fingers to warm them from the morning frosts.
Not so many posts this month, it's cold outside...and the house is so cosy...
But I still managed to nick outside today and sprinkle two packets of Brown Onion seeds in the garlic patch - it's getting a bit crowded in there.
10th May
Well, so much for paving what is left of the lawn - we squeezed another bed in there today, now really, we will pave the rest...
14th May
With the new garden bed yesterday, we used the last of the chook poo. The resultant bald patch of lawn was covered in plenty of Carrot seed today. I raked a little dirt over the top and stuck an artifical bird on a stick into the middle. This keeps the birds away, but I nervously await the day (that I know is coming all too soon) that the birds wise up and move in to eat all my seeds.
23nd May
It's been so bitterly cold the last two days. I blow my fingers to warm them from the morning frosts.
April 2008
5th April
Weeded...my fingers are too numb and my muscles are too tired to type any more...
6th April
I scattered a LOT of lettuce seed today. My plan is to make lettuce borders. The snails probably have other plans...
Infact I had a seed sprinkling frenzy. In went Onions, Cabbage and Brocolli by the handful. The Snowpeas couldn't be sprinkled, but in they went as well.
I put down some more newspaper to make a new gardenbed out behind the new grapevine pergola. The rest of the lawn left can be paved.
10th April
I thought it would be nice to border the pergola with flowers, so out went all the seedlings I had (which in reality didn't amount to that much). I also finally planted the bulbs there. I also moved the Bougainvillea from the now non-existant chook fence to its relocated resting spot. In doing this, O noticed that the Broad Beans and Sweet Peas are starting to break through. I should have a really pretty living fence. So long as none of the chooks escape anyhoo...
11th April
I;m still florally obssessed, so today i pruned the climbing rose and planted some of the cutting along the fence. {shhh} Then I went shopping and bought too many seeds.
13th April
I sprinkled more Carrot seed into the carrot patch and fixed the fairy arch today. Now that the chooks are moved, the kids can have their fairy garden back.
14th April
My daughter planted a whole heap of flower seeds (with fairy-like names) into the fairy garden today.
20th April
I bought more bulbs and planted them into the fairy garden. Then I broke up 4 entire garlic heads and planted them into the area I newspapered the other day, and for good measure, I covered the lot in Mustard seed.
30th April
It was my son's birthday today. We woke up with the first frost of the season.
Weeded...my fingers are too numb and my muscles are too tired to type any more...
6th April
I scattered a LOT of lettuce seed today. My plan is to make lettuce borders. The snails probably have other plans...
Infact I had a seed sprinkling frenzy. In went Onions, Cabbage and Brocolli by the handful. The Snowpeas couldn't be sprinkled, but in they went as well.
I put down some more newspaper to make a new gardenbed out behind the new grapevine pergola. The rest of the lawn left can be paved.
10th April
I thought it would be nice to border the pergola with flowers, so out went all the seedlings I had (which in reality didn't amount to that much). I also finally planted the bulbs there. I also moved the Bougainvillea from the now non-existant chook fence to its relocated resting spot. In doing this, O noticed that the Broad Beans and Sweet Peas are starting to break through. I should have a really pretty living fence. So long as none of the chooks escape anyhoo...
11th April
I;m still florally obssessed, so today i pruned the climbing rose and planted some of the cutting along the fence. {shhh} Then I went shopping and bought too many seeds.
13th April
I sprinkled more Carrot seed into the carrot patch and fixed the fairy arch today. Now that the chooks are moved, the kids can have their fairy garden back.
14th April
My daughter planted a whole heap of flower seeds (with fairy-like names) into the fairy garden today.
20th April
I bought more bulbs and planted them into the fairy garden. Then I broke up 4 entire garlic heads and planted them into the area I newspapered the other day, and for good measure, I covered the lot in Mustard seed.
30th April
It was my son's birthday today. We woke up with the first frost of the season.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
March 2008
1st March
I planted a whole heap of Dill seedlings along the garden path. Nothing seems to grow there except for couch grass. Maybe this will work?
8th March
I pulled out all the Strawberry plants and replanted them at the base of the pea teepee next to the kids vegie patch.
I also weeded along the new chookwire fence and put in stakes which I covered with netting. Hopefully (fingers crossed) this will protect the plants from the chooks {shrugs}
Autumn is definately here - the leaves are starting to turn. {sigh} And so begins my favourite part of the year.
13th March
Here are some wonderful links I have found while on my travels in regards to ethical eating:
*www.alv.org.au - vegetarian starter kits are available here
*www.rbta.org/meatmarketing.htm - Rare Breeds Meat Suppliers
*www.fta.org.au or www.oxfam.org.au/campains/mtf/fairtrade - Fairtrade
*www.communityfoods.org.au and www.farmersmarkets.org.au - Local farmers and Australian Community Foods
*www.macrowholefoods.com.au - Macro Whole Foods Shops
*www.organicfooddirectory.com.au and www.worldwholefoods.com - Organic and/or ecologically friendly foods
*http://users.chariot.net.au/-gloria/wholefoods.htm - Self service wholefood stores - buy in bulk and reduce packaging
*www.amcs.org.au - The sustainable fish finder
*www.chipotle.com - Chipote
15th March
Well the new fence along the chicken coop was a flop (literally). A tall tomato stake has fixed the problem. I planted a whole bunch of Sweet Pea and Broad Bean seeds in front of it. Hopefully it will soon cover the floppy ugly fence. I also planted some more seeds into poly boxes, including some Caraway seeds I had bought in the Spice section of Coles. I wonder if they will germinate? A packet of Greenfeast Peas were also planted directly into the garden, along with a packet of Brown onions.
16th March
Today I found and old and rather dry Avocado pip in the chicken coop. I couldn't help myself - I planted it into the bottom poly box. Wonder if it will grow? My yard is littered with that question. I am forever finding things sprouting and wondering how the hell they got there - and what the bloody hell they are. LOL
17th March
More weeding today. At least the chooks enjoy them :) I planted the Silvanberry cane into the kids vegie patch. MMMmmmm....silvanberries. I can't WAIT until Summer...
I also sprinkled an entire packet of Turnip seeds and another or Peas into the kids garden. I think that may be over kill...
22nd March
Picked most of the butternuts today, along with one large squash. They look so pretty lined up next to the stairs.
24th March
I collected seed today. It's amazing how much seed you can get just from two heads of sunflowers! There are plenty of leek seeds now too. Not that I really need them, I prefer to cut the leeks at the base rather than pulling up the entire plant. Then little leek bulbets grow around the base left in the ground. I really am a lazy gardener!
I planted a whole heap of Dill seedlings along the garden path. Nothing seems to grow there except for couch grass. Maybe this will work?
8th March
I pulled out all the Strawberry plants and replanted them at the base of the pea teepee next to the kids vegie patch.
I also weeded along the new chookwire fence and put in stakes which I covered with netting. Hopefully (fingers crossed) this will protect the plants from the chooks {shrugs}
Autumn is definately here - the leaves are starting to turn. {sigh} And so begins my favourite part of the year.
13th March
Here are some wonderful links I have found while on my travels in regards to ethical eating:
*www.alv.org.au - vegetarian starter kits are available here
*www.rbta.org/meatmarketing.htm - Rare Breeds Meat Suppliers
*www.fta.org.au or www.oxfam.org.au/campains/mtf/fairtrade - Fairtrade
*www.communityfoods.org.au and www.farmersmarkets.org.au - Local farmers and Australian Community Foods
*www.macrowholefoods.com.au - Macro Whole Foods Shops
*www.organicfooddirectory.com.au and www.worldwholefoods.com - Organic and/or ecologically friendly foods
*http://users.chariot.net.au/-gloria/wholefoods.htm - Self service wholefood stores - buy in bulk and reduce packaging
*www.amcs.org.au - The sustainable fish finder
*www.chipotle.com - Chipote
15th March
Well the new fence along the chicken coop was a flop (literally). A tall tomato stake has fixed the problem. I planted a whole bunch of Sweet Pea and Broad Bean seeds in front of it. Hopefully it will soon cover the floppy ugly fence. I also planted some more seeds into poly boxes, including some Caraway seeds I had bought in the Spice section of Coles. I wonder if they will germinate? A packet of Greenfeast Peas were also planted directly into the garden, along with a packet of Brown onions.
16th March
Today I found and old and rather dry Avocado pip in the chicken coop. I couldn't help myself - I planted it into the bottom poly box. Wonder if it will grow? My yard is littered with that question. I am forever finding things sprouting and wondering how the hell they got there - and what the bloody hell they are. LOL
17th March
More weeding today. At least the chooks enjoy them :) I planted the Silvanberry cane into the kids vegie patch. MMMmmmm....silvanberries. I can't WAIT until Summer...
I also sprinkled an entire packet of Turnip seeds and another or Peas into the kids garden. I think that may be over kill...
22nd March
Picked most of the butternuts today, along with one large squash. They look so pretty lined up next to the stairs.
24th March
I collected seed today. It's amazing how much seed you can get just from two heads of sunflowers! There are plenty of leek seeds now too. Not that I really need them, I prefer to cut the leeks at the base rather than pulling up the entire plant. Then little leek bulbets grow around the base left in the ground. I really am a lazy gardener!
Monday, March 10, 2008
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...
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...
Monday, January 7, 2008
January 2008
31st January
It rained today. Which was quite lovely - the kids and I set out for school and it was drizzling nicely, softening up the ground so the rain will really soak in rather than run off down our hill to the neighbours garden. Five minutes from school and something horrible happened. The heavens opened up and soaked us so severely I had to pop into the school uniform shop and buy my son a pair of new pants {shock}! I was comepletely wet from the knees down, my back was wet - even my hair was wet, the rain was so heavy it went THROUGH my umbrella. My poor little daughter who decided it was fun to walk with her umbrella over her sholder was a lost cause. I could have squeezed her out like a dishcloth. Later on I checked the Bureau of Meterology and between 8.50 and 9.00am our area had received over 8mm of rain! It went on to rain for all of the morning and some of the afternoon. I was expecting a repeat of the deluge at 3.20pm - but alas it stayed dry - Phew!
30th January
While I was watering this morning I discovered the Gladalan White Onions has FINALLY started sprouting. I guess they saw I had bought seed to replace them...
29th January
We have a LOT of carrot seed at the moment so I picked a head of it today and sprinkled it thickly over the Rockmelon patch.
28th January
I thought it would be a really good idea to pull up more couch grass and make garden beds today. After spending the morning pulling up enough couch crass to feed the chooks several times over, I discovered I had weeded a patch only 2m x 1m {shock} It always amazes me that this stuff isn't declared a noxious weed! So out came the hand shredder and I shredded all our old bills I had been hoarding for such an occasion. Hours later I had shredded enough paper to THICKLY cover the (relatively) couch-free area. I then covered this paper in chook poo and a thick layer of straw. I'll water this patch in and let it sit for a month or soo before I plant it out as some of the chook poo was very fresh. Boy was I pooped by the end of it all though!
27th January
Bought some MORE seeds today. I really don't need them - I just can't help myself. Some people wash there hands all day long - me, I buy seeds...
So, anyway, I bought:
* Baby Pak Carrots * Galaxy Mixed Sweetpea * Sugarsnap Peas (I'm sure I already have a packet of these - but better to be safe than sorry) * Early Crop Massey * Gladalan White Onion (to replace the ones that haven't come up in the bottom vegie patch) * Spring Onion
I also weeded along the path where I had planted the Alyssum seed. None of which has seemed to sprout. Plenty of Coriander seed has though {sigh}. So I sprinkled the entire packet of Baby Pak carrots seeds along with half a packet of Dill seeds. Apparently they're companion plants. I just wish something other than darn Couch grass would grow there...
We have started picking our Amish Paste Tomatoes - Yum! I'm glad to see this years crop is doing so much better than last years. I was worried that saving the seed from an inferior crop might cause problems this year. Thankfully my worries were unfounded.
24th January
I pollinated our first pumpkin this morning :D
18th January
I planted the Asparagus and Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce seeds today into poly boxes.
It rained last night. Lovely gentle stuff, not loads, but it's a start. We are supposed to have a lot more of it in the days to follow :D
I sprinkled last years saved Carrot seed (in anticipation of the billions of seeds I expecting this year) into the Butterbean row. I also mulched the Pink Fir Potatoes - they seem to be taking FOREVER to develop decent sized tubers. The Red Silverbeet also seems to be setting fertile seed now - Phew! So I collected some wet seed and will dry it before I put it into a container for later. I also collected up the pile of dried Oat plants I never got round to seperating the seed from, and popped it all back into the Rose patch - maybe I get round to saving the seed next year {shrugs}. But this year I was just a bit too worried about mould. I found some lovely big King Edward spuds that will be going into today's Asparagus and Potato flan for lunch today - Yummo! :D
17th January
Today I took the kids to Captain Cook's Cottage, and low and behold - they sell Diggers Seeds!! I couldn't resist and bought some Green Asparagus seeds (to replace all the seedlings the chooks ate) and some Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce. I was amazed at the kitchen garden behind Cook's cottage. For such a small space, they really had crammed it full of edibles. I noticed the Diggers 5 Colour Silverbeet and had to smile :)
I had a wander through the garden when we got home and noticed more dead Rockmelon seedlings. I don't know why they are dying, they seem to do so well and then they just shrivel up and die. There are only 5 or 6 seedlings left. There isn't a lot of Amish Paste seedlings left either. Some look like they are on their last legs - I don;t give them much of a chance...
My hubby wants a new garden project. I suggested a deep litter coop for the chooks to cut down on the stink in extremes of weather. He's decided on an outside oven.
15th January
I have left over
rice from last nights meal. So I'll make Fried Rice, wandering round in the garden I foundpeas, zucchini, cauliflower and a single Purple King bean to add to tonights meal :) While I was out there I dug up some Banana Potaoes for tomorrow. The Parsnip seeds have germinated - then it suddenly occured to me that I needed to dig up the spuds BEFORE I planted seeds - oh well. Speaking of Parsnip seed - I picked LOADS more of the dried seed. Some of which I gave to my MIL. The irony of this seed is that it is very, very hard to germinate originally, but once you have Parsnip established - you ALWAYS have Parsnip - eventually it becomes a weed... While I was there, I tried to collect some Silverbeet seed, but most of it seems sterile. All the seed pods are light and hollow. While only one tenth of it is dry yet, I am hoping and praying that the rest of the seed develops properly. I have no idea why this is happening - I have never, ever had a problem with Silverbeet seed.
I planted my Swede seed today. Some I planted directly into the bottom vegie patch and mulched heavily. Some I planted in a poly box, and some seed I saved for later. I have this terrible fear that I won't have any Swede this year...
Some of the Amish Paste seedlings along the brick wall have died, so I mulched the rest heavily with straw to try and save them. I am watering the plants well, but I suspect the shallow dirt in this vegie garden is why so often plants won't grow here. It always seems to be the barren garden :(
14th January
I FINALLY found some Swede seeds - I was starting to get really worried that I might miss out on growing this delicious vegie this Winter. Already my heart has moved onto the depths of Winter. And the Summer vegies are not even ripe yet - always, always this yearning for the next season, promises of things to comes...
The Pumpkins have started to flower. {whisper} I dare say I might even have a successful crop this year - pumpkin is a plant i have never had much luck growing. Next to the Pumpkins are the Moon & Stars Watermelons - although one plant looks suspiciously like a pumpkin, or another variety of watermelon perhaps? Anyhoo, it definately ain't a Moon & Stars - the anticipation is killing me though!!
13th January
I sprinkled the following seeds into the top vegie patch today:
-Oriental Radish (I'll have to be careful with these seeds - the heat killed the last seedlings I had)
-Red & Green Lettuce
-Loolo Rossa Lettuce
-Great Lakes Lettuce
-Green Cos
-Green Mignonette
The broken tomato branch I planted never took - so out it came! Rotten tomatoes and all. I can feel the Winter planting glut coming on :) I planted Beetroot and Brocolli seed in amongst the Corn in anticipation of the corn coming out in Autumn - now the ground won't be bare at all. Of course, because it was hot, I also planted more Corn into the row - maybe I'll get a stunted batch {shrugs}.
I need more room in my poly boxes for Winter seedlings so I planted out as many seedlings as I could get my hot little hands onto. I planted all my Amish Paste seedlings along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch. I am hoping the retained heat the wall collects from the morning sun will help keep the Tomatoes alive into Winter. I probably will need to plant something else around them to protect them further from the frosts. The Sweetie Tomatoes (small and stunted that they were because of snail attack) went into the kids vegie patch. Some more butter beans went into the Butterbean row.
I was cutting lemons today and discovered three seeds had begun to sprout insode the lemon - so I planted them! I really have no idea what will happen {shock}
12th January
I felt lazy today so I finally got round to planting my 3 Lazy Housewife beans I got from a seed swap. Here's hoping they're as prolific as Jack's beans :)
10th January
Today I went to check if the Mulberries growing in our local park were ripe. It was expected to reach 41 degrees today (and it did), so we wandered down there at 8.30am to check. There were many berries on the tree, but not many of them were ripe. I picked as many as I could reach - the kids thought it was hillarious when I attempted to climb the tree, the climb resulted in an extra 8 berries :( The tree is maturing very unevenly this year. Most other years the berries ripen within days of each other and by Boxing Day, the tree has nothing to show bar red spattered leaves. Pick the right day to go though and you could pick 5 kilos worth of fruit :D On the way home I found a Banana Passionfruit vine growing over a fence and managed to score a few. Our neighbours vine has just started fruiting (it grows into our yard if he doesn't prune it), so none are ripe yet, and our own vine is a long way off ready.
So this is what I made with my scavenged fruit...
Scavenger's Pavlova
Ingredients
*Wander down to your local park and pick some Mulberries.
*On the way home knick a couple of Banana Passionfruit off a vine growing rampantly over a fence.
*When you get home shoo the Wattle bird out of your Peach tree and pick some on the way in.
*Then wander out the back and scrounge up some eggs.
Method
*For every egg white add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cornflour and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar*
-Pre-heat the oven to it's hottest temp.
-Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add the sugar a bit at a time. When stiff and glossy, add the cornflour and vinegar, mix through
-Line a pizza tray with baking paper and blob on the pav mixture
-Bung the lot in the oven, turning the heat down to 100 degrees as you do
-Bake until crisp and just about to go brown (knowing when this is, is an art )
-While the pav is cooking, peel the peaches and pop them into a pot with some sugar and water and a teaspoon of vanilla essence
-Simmer until it forms a thick sauce and blend with a stick blender
-Take one UHT cream and whisk with sugar and vanilla (to taste). Add two large dollops of vanilla yoghurt and whisk until smooth.
-Take the pav out of the oven and allow to cool. Then top with the cream mixture followed by the peach sauce, then the Mulberries and finally, the Banana Passionfruit.
-Enjoy!
7th January
While I was outside this morning bucketing bath water, I noticed that the Alyssum is starting to germinate. I also discovered that the Tamarillo plant that the frost got in Spring and I had given up for dead (and therefore hadn't watered in a VERY long time) has started sending up new shoots around its base!!!! I am VERY excited :D
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6th January
I finally bought some 7 foot garden stakes today and staked up the Amish Paste Tomatoes. I broke the first plant way down low when I was trying to straighten it. So I planted the whole broken bit into the top vegie patch. At the very least the green tomatoes on it will ripen, but just maybe it will strike and I'll have a whole new plant. I also sprinkled some more Parsnip seed.
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3rd January
I received some Lazy Housewife beans today in the post :D I wasn't expecting them so it was a lovely surprise.
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1st January
It was too hot and I was too hungover to do anything in the garden today. But I did find some ripe Parsnip seed while I was mooching around. So I striped it off and sprinkled it into the Banana Potato row (now that that is dying back) and covered the lot with straw mulch. When I can be bothered I will water it in.
The Garden in January (this photo was taken in the heat of a 40 degree day)
It rained today. Which was quite lovely - the kids and I set out for school and it was drizzling nicely, softening up the ground so the rain will really soak in rather than run off down our hill to the neighbours garden. Five minutes from school and something horrible happened. The heavens opened up and soaked us so severely I had to pop into the school uniform shop and buy my son a pair of new pants {shock}! I was comepletely wet from the knees down, my back was wet - even my hair was wet, the rain was so heavy it went THROUGH my umbrella. My poor little daughter who decided it was fun to walk with her umbrella over her sholder was a lost cause. I could have squeezed her out like a dishcloth. Later on I checked the Bureau of Meterology and between 8.50 and 9.00am our area had received over 8mm of rain! It went on to rain for all of the morning and some of the afternoon. I was expecting a repeat of the deluge at 3.20pm - but alas it stayed dry - Phew!
30th January
While I was watering this morning I discovered the Gladalan White Onions has FINALLY started sprouting. I guess they saw I had bought seed to replace them...
29th January
We have a LOT of carrot seed at the moment so I picked a head of it today and sprinkled it thickly over the Rockmelon patch.
28th January
I thought it would be a really good idea to pull up more couch grass and make garden beds today. After spending the morning pulling up enough couch crass to feed the chooks several times over, I discovered I had weeded a patch only 2m x 1m {shock} It always amazes me that this stuff isn't declared a noxious weed! So out came the hand shredder and I shredded all our old bills I had been hoarding for such an occasion. Hours later I had shredded enough paper to THICKLY cover the (relatively) couch-free area. I then covered this paper in chook poo and a thick layer of straw. I'll water this patch in and let it sit for a month or soo before I plant it out as some of the chook poo was very fresh. Boy was I pooped by the end of it all though!
27th January
Bought some MORE seeds today. I really don't need them - I just can't help myself. Some people wash there hands all day long - me, I buy seeds...
So, anyway, I bought:
* Baby Pak Carrots * Galaxy Mixed Sweetpea * Sugarsnap Peas (I'm sure I already have a packet of these - but better to be safe than sorry) * Early Crop Massey * Gladalan White Onion (to replace the ones that haven't come up in the bottom vegie patch) * Spring Onion
I also weeded along the path where I had planted the Alyssum seed. None of which has seemed to sprout. Plenty of Coriander seed has though {sigh}. So I sprinkled the entire packet of Baby Pak carrots seeds along with half a packet of Dill seeds. Apparently they're companion plants. I just wish something other than darn Couch grass would grow there...
We have started picking our Amish Paste Tomatoes - Yum! I'm glad to see this years crop is doing so much better than last years. I was worried that saving the seed from an inferior crop might cause problems this year. Thankfully my worries were unfounded.
24th January
I pollinated our first pumpkin this morning :D
18th January
I planted the Asparagus and Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce seeds today into poly boxes.
It rained last night. Lovely gentle stuff, not loads, but it's a start. We are supposed to have a lot more of it in the days to follow :D
I sprinkled last years saved Carrot seed (in anticipation of the billions of seeds I expecting this year) into the Butterbean row. I also mulched the Pink Fir Potatoes - they seem to be taking FOREVER to develop decent sized tubers. The Red Silverbeet also seems to be setting fertile seed now - Phew! So I collected some wet seed and will dry it before I put it into a container for later. I also collected up the pile of dried Oat plants I never got round to seperating the seed from, and popped it all back into the Rose patch - maybe I get round to saving the seed next year {shrugs}. But this year I was just a bit too worried about mould. I found some lovely big King Edward spuds that will be going into today's Asparagus and Potato flan for lunch today - Yummo! :D
17th January
Today I took the kids to Captain Cook's Cottage, and low and behold - they sell Diggers Seeds!! I couldn't resist and bought some Green Asparagus seeds (to replace all the seedlings the chooks ate) and some Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce. I was amazed at the kitchen garden behind Cook's cottage. For such a small space, they really had crammed it full of edibles. I noticed the Diggers 5 Colour Silverbeet and had to smile :)
I had a wander through the garden when we got home and noticed more dead Rockmelon seedlings. I don't know why they are dying, they seem to do so well and then they just shrivel up and die. There are only 5 or 6 seedlings left. There isn't a lot of Amish Paste seedlings left either. Some look like they are on their last legs - I don;t give them much of a chance...
My hubby wants a new garden project. I suggested a deep litter coop for the chooks to cut down on the stink in extremes of weather. He's decided on an outside oven.
15th January
I have left over
rice from last nights meal. So I'll make Fried Rice, wandering round in the garden I foundpeas, zucchini, cauliflower and a single Purple King bean to add to tonights meal :) While I was out there I dug up some Banana Potaoes for tomorrow. The Parsnip seeds have germinated - then it suddenly occured to me that I needed to dig up the spuds BEFORE I planted seeds - oh well. Speaking of Parsnip seed - I picked LOADS more of the dried seed. Some of which I gave to my MIL. The irony of this seed is that it is very, very hard to germinate originally, but once you have Parsnip established - you ALWAYS have Parsnip - eventually it becomes a weed... While I was there, I tried to collect some Silverbeet seed, but most of it seems sterile. All the seed pods are light and hollow. While only one tenth of it is dry yet, I am hoping and praying that the rest of the seed develops properly. I have no idea why this is happening - I have never, ever had a problem with Silverbeet seed.
I planted my Swede seed today. Some I planted directly into the bottom vegie patch and mulched heavily. Some I planted in a poly box, and some seed I saved for later. I have this terrible fear that I won't have any Swede this year...
Some of the Amish Paste seedlings along the brick wall have died, so I mulched the rest heavily with straw to try and save them. I am watering the plants well, but I suspect the shallow dirt in this vegie garden is why so often plants won't grow here. It always seems to be the barren garden :(
14th January
I FINALLY found some Swede seeds - I was starting to get really worried that I might miss out on growing this delicious vegie this Winter. Already my heart has moved onto the depths of Winter. And the Summer vegies are not even ripe yet - always, always this yearning for the next season, promises of things to comes...
The Pumpkins have started to flower. {whisper} I dare say I might even have a successful crop this year - pumpkin is a plant i have never had much luck growing. Next to the Pumpkins are the Moon & Stars Watermelons - although one plant looks suspiciously like a pumpkin, or another variety of watermelon perhaps? Anyhoo, it definately ain't a Moon & Stars - the anticipation is killing me though!!
13th January
I sprinkled the following seeds into the top vegie patch today:
-Oriental Radish (I'll have to be careful with these seeds - the heat killed the last seedlings I had)
-Red & Green Lettuce
-Loolo Rossa Lettuce
-Great Lakes Lettuce
-Green Cos
-Green Mignonette
The broken tomato branch I planted never took - so out it came! Rotten tomatoes and all. I can feel the Winter planting glut coming on :) I planted Beetroot and Brocolli seed in amongst the Corn in anticipation of the corn coming out in Autumn - now the ground won't be bare at all. Of course, because it was hot, I also planted more Corn into the row - maybe I'll get a stunted batch {shrugs}.
I need more room in my poly boxes for Winter seedlings so I planted out as many seedlings as I could get my hot little hands onto. I planted all my Amish Paste seedlings along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch. I am hoping the retained heat the wall collects from the morning sun will help keep the Tomatoes alive into Winter. I probably will need to plant something else around them to protect them further from the frosts. The Sweetie Tomatoes (small and stunted that they were because of snail attack) went into the kids vegie patch. Some more butter beans went into the Butterbean row.
I was cutting lemons today and discovered three seeds had begun to sprout insode the lemon - so I planted them! I really have no idea what will happen {shock}
12th January
I felt lazy today so I finally got round to planting my 3 Lazy Housewife beans I got from a seed swap. Here's hoping they're as prolific as Jack's beans :)
10th January
Today I went to check if the Mulberries growing in our local park were ripe. It was expected to reach 41 degrees today (and it did), so we wandered down there at 8.30am to check. There were many berries on the tree, but not many of them were ripe. I picked as many as I could reach - the kids thought it was hillarious when I attempted to climb the tree, the climb resulted in an extra 8 berries :( The tree is maturing very unevenly this year. Most other years the berries ripen within days of each other and by Boxing Day, the tree has nothing to show bar red spattered leaves. Pick the right day to go though and you could pick 5 kilos worth of fruit :D On the way home I found a Banana Passionfruit vine growing over a fence and managed to score a few. Our neighbours vine has just started fruiting (it grows into our yard if he doesn't prune it), so none are ripe yet, and our own vine is a long way off ready.
So this is what I made with my scavenged fruit...
Scavenger's Pavlova
Ingredients
*Wander down to your local park and pick some Mulberries.
*On the way home knick a couple of Banana Passionfruit off a vine growing rampantly over a fence.
*When you get home shoo the Wattle bird out of your Peach tree and pick some on the way in.
*Then wander out the back and scrounge up some eggs.
Method
*For every egg white add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cornflour and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar*
-Pre-heat the oven to it's hottest temp.
-Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add the sugar a bit at a time. When stiff and glossy, add the cornflour and vinegar, mix through
-Line a pizza tray with baking paper and blob on the pav mixture
-Bung the lot in the oven, turning the heat down to 100 degrees as you do
-Bake until crisp and just about to go brown (knowing when this is, is an art )
-While the pav is cooking, peel the peaches and pop them into a pot with some sugar and water and a teaspoon of vanilla essence
-Simmer until it forms a thick sauce and blend with a stick blender
-Take one UHT cream and whisk with sugar and vanilla (to taste). Add two large dollops of vanilla yoghurt and whisk until smooth.
-Take the pav out of the oven and allow to cool. Then top with the cream mixture followed by the peach sauce, then the Mulberries and finally, the Banana Passionfruit.
-Enjoy!
7th January
While I was outside this morning bucketing bath water, I noticed that the Alyssum is starting to germinate. I also discovered that the Tamarillo plant that the frost got in Spring and I had given up for dead (and therefore hadn't watered in a VERY long time) has started sending up new shoots around its base!!!! I am VERY excited :D
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6th January
I finally bought some 7 foot garden stakes today and staked up the Amish Paste Tomatoes. I broke the first plant way down low when I was trying to straighten it. So I planted the whole broken bit into the top vegie patch. At the very least the green tomatoes on it will ripen, but just maybe it will strike and I'll have a whole new plant. I also sprinkled some more Parsnip seed.
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3rd January
I received some Lazy Housewife beans today in the post :D I wasn't expecting them so it was a lovely surprise.
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1st January
It was too hot and I was too hungover to do anything in the garden today. But I did find some ripe Parsnip seed while I was mooching around. So I striped it off and sprinkled it into the Banana Potato row (now that that is dying back) and covered the lot with straw mulch. When I can be bothered I will water it in.
The Garden in January (this photo was taken in the heat of a 40 degree day)
Friday, January 4, 2008
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 :(
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 :(
November 2007
The garden in November
4th November
We had 35 mms of rain last night
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6th November
I planted 3 grape vines today. I don't think they will grow enough this season to provide shade across the window the pergola is built around, but maybe next Summer will be a bit more bearable I am debating whether to grow a fast grower up the poles this year, maybe Butternut or squashes?
My pea vines are now dead from what ever virus they had that turned their stalks black. At least we got a couple of feeds from them before they keeled over though I wonder if the virus is carried in the seed or whether I can plant the seeds left on the vine. I guess I will just have to experiement {shrugs}
I also moved the Passionfruit vine today. It never thrived in it's old location next to the climbing roses, so I moved to down to the old potato patch. I planted a couple of Zucchini seedlings there a couple of weeks ago and their growth has outshot the other seedlings planted elsewhere on the same day, but they have also outshot the ones planted months ago So the potato patch HAS to be the most fertile place in our garden. If the vine doesn't thrive here then it never will
__________________________________________________________________
9th November
Bob and Harmony have been escaping lately. I think they may be jumping into the cherry plum and then climbing the fence Can chooks climb?! As a result of this, my garden is in a shambles and I have lost ALL of my Globe Artichokes that were doing so well. The Butternuts have gone also
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10th November
I picked the first of the Perpetual Spinach today (which is not so 'perpetual' as it is running to seed) and put it into a Quiche Lorraine. It was delicious!! It gave the quiche a sweet flavour I also made a 6 egg pavlova today and tommorrow we are having a little bit of bacon with eggs for breakfast - can you tell it's Springtime! The hens are laying like it's going out of style
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11th November
Today I FINALLY got the kids out into the sunshine to plant out some of their seedlings. I planted the Bantam Peas straight into the ground at the back of the patch as I discovered after opening the packet that they had been sprayed with the pink stuff and I didn't want the kids handling them.
Then they planted out the following:
*10 Purple King Beans
*5 Blue Lake Beans
*approx. 12-16 Terrific Corn
*4 Giant Russian Sunflowers
*3 Butterbeans
I'm also going to plant my Sugarcane into their patch since the weather has well and trully warmed up
__________________________________________________________________
14th November
Today was spent weeding all the vegie patches. It's that time of year when gardening is less about growing things, and more about slashing back the mutant weeds to let the 'real' plants grow...It's VERY obvious at this time of year that the author of 'Little Shop of Horrors' was a gardener.
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18th November
Today I planted the following seedlings:
*Pak Choi (with snail bait) as a garden border in the top vegie patch
*Cotton (along the top chicken wire fence)
*Amish Paste Tomatoes (in the new vegie patch)
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25th November
Today I noticed one of my last surviving Sugarsnap pea vines had 1/2 a dozen dried pea pods on it. So I collected them and shelled them and replanted the 27 seeds I got back along the chicken wire fence in the top vegie garden. I also went to my Primary School Reunion today. The school now also has Steiner schooling and as a result it is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. They have a permaculture garden and a chook and duck pen. One of the classes are doing experients with open pollinated seeds and how the plants can be changed and improved (or not) depending on which seeds are collected and how they are pollinated. As a result they have more seeds then they know what to do with and I am now the proud owner of some of these seeds Hopefully I get some time to grow them with Christmas making a hasty approach...
My hubby drilled holes into the gavanised steel posts he put in for the grape vine pergola and threaded through some wire rope. He managed to do nearly 3 rows before the rope ran out
__________________________________________________________________
29th November
I went nuts in the garden today.
I planted the following seedlings:
*Nasturtiums (around the fruit trees, grape vines and inbetween the cotton seedlings) *Butternuts (around the grapes)
*Butterbeans (in the kids vegie patch)
*Blue Lake Beans (Around my son's bean teepee)
*Amaranth (as a border between the two bottom vegie patches)
*Lebanese Cucumbers (along the chook wire fence behind the Cherry tree)
I also did a bit of weeding and took a few photos. I FINALLY staked the Tomatoes. I had put the stakes in months ago, but had just never got round to tying the plants to them. A lot of the plants have flower buds on them, and one plant's flowers were even open - YAY! I planted some seeds too. Where the kids had planted their corn seedlings, only one had survived, so I planted some seeds in situ. I also planted some more Butter Bean seeds in a row to replace the ones that were already there but had died due to snails and/or heat
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30th November
Here is my loooooong list of things that I REALLY need to do in the garden. As they get done I will mark them off with a highlight them in red
To Do List
-Plant Nasturtiums around the Almond Tree
-Plant Squashes (in the Rose patch)
-Plant Spaghetti Squashes (in Rose patch 5/12)
-Plant out all the seedlings that are flowering before they die (Some 5/12)
-Weed (parts of the vegie patches)
-Fix holes around the bottom three citrus trees before the chooks suceed in digging them up (27/12)
-Plant more spuds
-Plant Sugarbaby watermelon seedlings next to the small chicken coop (5/12)
-Get Cherry net (30/11)
-Plant my new Italian Parsley seeds (16/12)
-Get my daughter a pot and potting mix so she can plant her Snapdragon seeds (16/12)
-Move the Pineapples to the kids vegie patch (11/12)
-Plant the sugarcane in the kids vegie patch (16/12)
-Plant more corn seeds in situ (5/12)
-Plant more cucumber seeds in situ (5/12)
-Plant out Pickling Cucumbers in the Rose patch (11/12)
-Plant out Moon & Stars seeds along grape vine trellis (5/12)
-Spread Dynamic Lifter where needed
-Sprinkle Giant Russian Sunflower seeds in the kids vegie patch and new vegie patch (5/12)
-Weed around the Bay Tree (2/12)
-Plant the Blueberries before they die (30/12)
-Sprinkle lettuce seeds as ground cover (5/12)
*Phew! Now that's quite a list
4th November
We had 35 mms of rain last night
__________________________________________________________________
6th November
I planted 3 grape vines today. I don't think they will grow enough this season to provide shade across the window the pergola is built around, but maybe next Summer will be a bit more bearable I am debating whether to grow a fast grower up the poles this year, maybe Butternut or squashes?
My pea vines are now dead from what ever virus they had that turned their stalks black. At least we got a couple of feeds from them before they keeled over though I wonder if the virus is carried in the seed or whether I can plant the seeds left on the vine. I guess I will just have to experiement {shrugs}
I also moved the Passionfruit vine today. It never thrived in it's old location next to the climbing roses, so I moved to down to the old potato patch. I planted a couple of Zucchini seedlings there a couple of weeks ago and their growth has outshot the other seedlings planted elsewhere on the same day, but they have also outshot the ones planted months ago So the potato patch HAS to be the most fertile place in our garden. If the vine doesn't thrive here then it never will
__________________________________________________________________
9th November
Bob and Harmony have been escaping lately. I think they may be jumping into the cherry plum and then climbing the fence Can chooks climb?! As a result of this, my garden is in a shambles and I have lost ALL of my Globe Artichokes that were doing so well. The Butternuts have gone also
__________________________________________________________________
10th November
I picked the first of the Perpetual Spinach today (which is not so 'perpetual' as it is running to seed) and put it into a Quiche Lorraine. It was delicious!! It gave the quiche a sweet flavour I also made a 6 egg pavlova today and tommorrow we are having a little bit of bacon with eggs for breakfast - can you tell it's Springtime! The hens are laying like it's going out of style
__________________________________________________________________
11th November
Today I FINALLY got the kids out into the sunshine to plant out some of their seedlings. I planted the Bantam Peas straight into the ground at the back of the patch as I discovered after opening the packet that they had been sprayed with the pink stuff and I didn't want the kids handling them.
Then they planted out the following:
*10 Purple King Beans
*5 Blue Lake Beans
*approx. 12-16 Terrific Corn
*4 Giant Russian Sunflowers
*3 Butterbeans
I'm also going to plant my Sugarcane into their patch since the weather has well and trully warmed up
__________________________________________________________________
14th November
Today was spent weeding all the vegie patches. It's that time of year when gardening is less about growing things, and more about slashing back the mutant weeds to let the 'real' plants grow...It's VERY obvious at this time of year that the author of 'Little Shop of Horrors' was a gardener.
__________________________________________________________________
18th November
Today I planted the following seedlings:
*Pak Choi (with snail bait) as a garden border in the top vegie patch
*Cotton (along the top chicken wire fence)
*Amish Paste Tomatoes (in the new vegie patch)
__________________________________________________________________
25th November
Today I noticed one of my last surviving Sugarsnap pea vines had 1/2 a dozen dried pea pods on it. So I collected them and shelled them and replanted the 27 seeds I got back along the chicken wire fence in the top vegie garden. I also went to my Primary School Reunion today. The school now also has Steiner schooling and as a result it is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. They have a permaculture garden and a chook and duck pen. One of the classes are doing experients with open pollinated seeds and how the plants can be changed and improved (or not) depending on which seeds are collected and how they are pollinated. As a result they have more seeds then they know what to do with and I am now the proud owner of some of these seeds Hopefully I get some time to grow them with Christmas making a hasty approach...
My hubby drilled holes into the gavanised steel posts he put in for the grape vine pergola and threaded through some wire rope. He managed to do nearly 3 rows before the rope ran out
__________________________________________________________________
29th November
I went nuts in the garden today.
I planted the following seedlings:
*Nasturtiums (around the fruit trees, grape vines and inbetween the cotton seedlings) *Butternuts (around the grapes)
*Butterbeans (in the kids vegie patch)
*Blue Lake Beans (Around my son's bean teepee)
*Amaranth (as a border between the two bottom vegie patches)
*Lebanese Cucumbers (along the chook wire fence behind the Cherry tree)
I also did a bit of weeding and took a few photos. I FINALLY staked the Tomatoes. I had put the stakes in months ago, but had just never got round to tying the plants to them. A lot of the plants have flower buds on them, and one plant's flowers were even open - YAY! I planted some seeds too. Where the kids had planted their corn seedlings, only one had survived, so I planted some seeds in situ. I also planted some more Butter Bean seeds in a row to replace the ones that were already there but had died due to snails and/or heat
__________________________________________________________________
30th November
Here is my loooooong list of things that I REALLY need to do in the garden. As they get done I will mark them off with a highlight them in red
To Do List
-Plant Nasturtiums around the Almond Tree
-Plant Squashes (in the Rose patch)
-Plant Spaghetti Squashes (in Rose patch 5/12)
-Plant out all the seedlings that are flowering before they die (Some 5/12)
-Weed (parts of the vegie patches)
-Fix holes around the bottom three citrus trees before the chooks suceed in digging them up (27/12)
-Plant more spuds
-Plant Sugarbaby watermelon seedlings next to the small chicken coop (5/12)
-Get Cherry net (30/11)
-Plant my new Italian Parsley seeds (16/12)
-Get my daughter a pot and potting mix so she can plant her Snapdragon seeds (16/12)
-Move the Pineapples to the kids vegie patch (11/12)
-Plant the sugarcane in the kids vegie patch (16/12)
-Plant more corn seeds in situ (5/12)
-Plant more cucumber seeds in situ (5/12)
-Plant out Pickling Cucumbers in the Rose patch (11/12)
-Plant out Moon & Stars seeds along grape vine trellis (5/12)
-Spread Dynamic Lifter where needed
-Sprinkle Giant Russian Sunflower seeds in the kids vegie patch and new vegie patch (5/12)
-Weed around the Bay Tree (2/12)
-Plant the Blueberries before they die (30/12)
-Sprinkle lettuce seeds as ground cover (5/12)
*Phew! Now that's quite a list
October 2007
4th October
The garden in October
Today I planted more Lima bean seeds. The little blackbird seems to particularly like them She doesn't eat them, just digs them up and then the snails and slugs have a field day on them sucking their insides out - for some strange reason they don't eat the bean skin {shrugs} I also planted a packet of Kelvedon Glory F1 Corn seeds in with the Lima beans. I also heavily mulched the zucchini seedlings in the top vegie patch and removed their milk bottles as they're big enough now to look after themselves
'Why are we so fearful of germs?
Is it because we recognise in them our
very own parasidic tendencies
towards our host planet?'
-Anon.
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6th October
I dug a new vegie patch today along the top fence. This is the kids very own patch. They will pick their own seeds to plant and water it and tend to it themselves. Once it was dug I sprinkled some chook poo on it, replaced the upturned weeds (that weren't couch grass), shredded enough old bills and bank statements to cover the area, then covered that in dynamic lifter and finally covered the lot in a thick layer of straw. This will sit now for a couple of weeks while the kids seeds become seedlings and hopefully then they will have a lovely garden bed to plant them into
A seed tray was started with the kids seeds as follows:
*Green Mignonette Lettuce
*Giant Russian Sunflowers
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet
*Sweetie Tomato
*Purple King Beans
*Terrific Sweet Corn
*Sugarbaby Watermelon
*Dwarf Butter Beans
*Strawberries
*Blue Lake Beans
I started a tray of seeds for myself also:
*Brandywine Tomato (another Amish variety)
*Celery
*Lebanese Cucumber (since all mine died while I was sick and didn't water them )
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet
*Pak Choi
*Pickling Gherkin (see Cucumber)
*Brussels Sprouts
*Californian Red Bell Pepper
*Butternut Pumpkin
*Bull's Horn Capsicum
I also planted out the following seedlings:
*5 zucchini
*4 corn
*many California Red Bell Peppers
*3 Amish Paste Tomatoes
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15th October
Bought two pots on Friday and this morning we filled them with dirt. The kids picked 6 Watermelon seeds each and planted them into the pots. They were covered with straw and watered in. If all the watermelon seeds that were planted into the tray the other week sprout along with these we're gonna be in trouble - I don't think even I could eat that many melons
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28th October
My mate Jen bought round a Pinot Noir Grape vine today
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29th October
We planted the carrot tape along the front of the kids vegie garden today. I don't know how it will go, I suspect we may not get any carrots unless we keep it well watered Aidan's watermelon seeds in the pot are up. Ayla's aren't so we have planted 6 more seeds (Yeah, I can see a glut coming on too )
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30th October
Ayla's watermelons have started to sprout *cough* glut
The garden in October
Today I planted more Lima bean seeds. The little blackbird seems to particularly like them She doesn't eat them, just digs them up and then the snails and slugs have a field day on them sucking their insides out - for some strange reason they don't eat the bean skin {shrugs} I also planted a packet of Kelvedon Glory F1 Corn seeds in with the Lima beans. I also heavily mulched the zucchini seedlings in the top vegie patch and removed their milk bottles as they're big enough now to look after themselves
'Why are we so fearful of germs?
Is it because we recognise in them our
very own parasidic tendencies
towards our host planet?'
-Anon.
__________________________________________________________________
6th October
I dug a new vegie patch today along the top fence. This is the kids very own patch. They will pick their own seeds to plant and water it and tend to it themselves. Once it was dug I sprinkled some chook poo on it, replaced the upturned weeds (that weren't couch grass), shredded enough old bills and bank statements to cover the area, then covered that in dynamic lifter and finally covered the lot in a thick layer of straw. This will sit now for a couple of weeks while the kids seeds become seedlings and hopefully then they will have a lovely garden bed to plant them into
A seed tray was started with the kids seeds as follows:
*Green Mignonette Lettuce
*Giant Russian Sunflowers
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet
*Sweetie Tomato
*Purple King Beans
*Terrific Sweet Corn
*Sugarbaby Watermelon
*Dwarf Butter Beans
*Strawberries
*Blue Lake Beans
I started a tray of seeds for myself also:
*Brandywine Tomato (another Amish variety)
*Celery
*Lebanese Cucumber (since all mine died while I was sick and didn't water them )
*Rainbow Chard Silverbeet
*Pak Choi
*Pickling Gherkin (see Cucumber)
*Brussels Sprouts
*Californian Red Bell Pepper
*Butternut Pumpkin
*Bull's Horn Capsicum
I also planted out the following seedlings:
*5 zucchini
*4 corn
*many California Red Bell Peppers
*3 Amish Paste Tomatoes
__________________________________________________________________
15th October
Bought two pots on Friday and this morning we filled them with dirt. The kids picked 6 Watermelon seeds each and planted them into the pots. They were covered with straw and watered in. If all the watermelon seeds that were planted into the tray the other week sprout along with these we're gonna be in trouble - I don't think even I could eat that many melons
__________________________________________________________________
28th October
My mate Jen bought round a Pinot Noir Grape vine today
__________________________________________________________________
29th October
We planted the carrot tape along the front of the kids vegie garden today. I don't know how it will go, I suspect we may not get any carrots unless we keep it well watered Aidan's watermelon seeds in the pot are up. Ayla's aren't so we have planted 6 more seeds (Yeah, I can see a glut coming on too )
__________________________________________________________________
30th October
Ayla's watermelons have started to sprout *cough* glut
Thursday, January 3, 2008
September 2007
2nd September
The Garden in September
Well Spring has well and trully got underneath my skin! Today I planted everything I could lay my hands on. It was a gardening frenzy! Any seedling in the hothouses that had two leaves were planted out into the garden. I popped them all into their own individual plastic milk bottle covers to keep them warm if we get a cold snap {GN crosses her fingers, closes her eyes and prays}. I also used more evil snail pellets. I am so scared of losing everything to snails like I did last year that I am being overly cautious this year and dropping my morals some what. Although I also had the extra seed to play around with last year.
So this is what happened:
*6 Decorative Gourds went into the herb garden
*7 Purple Kings along the Kiwi trellis
*1 Lebanese Cucumbers along the top chook wire fence
*13 Pickling Gerkins along the wire (in between the Perpetual Spinach) in the top vegie patch
*2 Zucchini in the top vegie patch
I also sprinkled the rest of the Green Globe Artichoke seeds along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch and covered them with straw. Four handfuls of sunflower seeds were sprinkled along where the Celery was eaten and around the cherry tree, these were covered also in straw. Then my girlfriend rang and asked me if I wanted a bag of Giant Russian Sunflower seeds - I obviously said yes - I have no idea where they will be planted, but I'll fit them in somehow.
My hubby got started on our grape pergola too. Our house has the most windows on the West side, which makes it INCREDIBLY hot in Summer. We are building a pergola part way along these windows to help cut down on the sunlight getting in. So two poles were cemented into place (with two more to follow next week). We then went off to the Sunday market to get Grape vines, after seeing them there for $3 each the other week - to find there were hardly any stalls there because it was Father's Day. So off to the Wandin Nursery we go - nope they're out of vines for this season. So we bought 2 Blueberries instead - Blue Rose and Joy being the varieties. They were covered in some sort of blue spray - I hope it wasn't too poisonous as I had to carry them all the way back in the car.
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4th September
There was a light frost today. And the sunshine that followed got under my skin, and I had to plant things.
I planted:
*17 butterbean seedlings into the fifth row of the new vegie patch. I popped them into milk bottle protectors to keep them warm and to (hopefully) keep the snails out
*Sprinkled poppy seeds (I bought the seeds from the spice section of the supermarket) in with the sunflower seeds I scattered the other day
*Sprinkled Amaranth seed along the brick wall where I scattered the Artichoke seeds
*My daughter planted a packet of Supersweet Bi-Coloured Corn in a block in the top vegie garden
*She also planted 15 pigeon pea seeds directly into the first row of the new vegie patch
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6th September
Today I planted a Banana Passionfruit plant behind the chicken coop. It was a surprise present from a wonderful member of the Eath Garden Path (www.earthgarden.com.au) There are truly some fabulous people on the forum. They are always willing to help out with advice or seeds or plants
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7th September
I planted 27 capicum seedlings today! It's probably overkill, I know, but I have many more I need to find room for The varieties were: Red Bull's Horn, Sweet Delight and Californian Red Bell. I also planted out a Zucchini seedling to replace one that died. I must have planted the other seedlings at the right time though as they have hit the ground running Our White Anzac peach has just started flowering too. Looks like they are a later variety to the Golden Queen which will be nice, not so much of a glut - but then again, can you EVER have too many peaches?!
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10th September
I planted Lima Beans today - straight into the ground. I guess I will loose a lot to snails, but they swell so much with water, that if I plant them into seedling trays, they get too large for their cells. Wish me Luck. I also planted the first Butternut seedlings into their 2 high poly box today.
__________________________________________________________________
13th September
Dug another row in the new garden bed (before the ground dried out too much from the last rain) and planted 8 Banana seed potatoes. I have never heard of Banana potatoes before - so I can't WAIT to taste them. They're very small though..
__________________________________________________________________
16th September
We went to the local market this morning to buy grape vines for our grape pergola. {whisper} We also came home with a very large Tahitian Lime plant...We felt sorry for it...it was the last one there...it was lonely...
(Yes, I've run out of excuses now)
__________________________________________________________________
22nd September
The Spring Equinox seems to affected me Lots of stuff has been done today:
*Planted lettuce seeds (Red & Green, Cos and Great Lakes) under the Josterberry tree to fill up the gaps between the other lettuces
*More Purple King seedlings went in with the others along the kiwi vine trellis. In the same area I also planted 4 spaghetti Squash seedlings
*Planted more Lebanese cucumbers
*Replaced the snail eaten milk capsicums with more seedlings (see, there IS method to my madness of planting waaaaay to many seeds )
*Planted Borlotti Bean seedlings in the strip next to the Cherry tree (gee, I didn't realise how fabulous the soil was there - wonder if it had anything to do with the shredded paper mulch?) *Six Amish Tomato seedlings went into the 4th and 6th rows of the new vegie patch. The seedlings grown in the hothouse have outstripped the ones grown early on my window sill (which haven't grown in size in a month)
*Planted 15 Green Globe Artichoke seedlings into potting mix along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch. Hopefully these plants will keep the couch grass back
*Four Moon and Stars Watermelon seedlings went into the other 2 high stack of poly boxes next to the old chicken coop. The plan is to cover this ugly box with beautiful melons
*I took the chicken wire down from around the fairy garden (the chooks had broken into the garden long ago, so there is no need for the wire now as all the plants have been eaten and there are now huge hollows of dirt baths where the plants used to be) and nailed it up along the fence behind the pineapple hothouse. I then planted 5 Yellow Squash seedlings beneath it
*Planted Nasturtium seedlings at the base of some of the fruit trees. I have heard that they can help deter cherry and pear slug.
*All the seedlings were mulched heavily and fed with Dynamic Lifter
__________________________________________________________________
23rd September
Will I never learn?! When every I plant out Tomato seedlings and leave them uncovered - you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be frost. So I woke up bright and early this morning and found frost as I let the chickens out of the coop. I then spent the next half an hour gently watering all the frozen seedlings! It looks like I will loose the Moon and Stars Watermelons. I put another poly box over the top anyway to protect them from the sun today {shrugs} The tomatoes look okay though. I put plastic milk bottles round them anyway to protect them in the future.
So, to cheer myself up, I planted more
*Planted Lebanese Cucumber seeds into the hanging basket with the Sweetie Tomato seedlings *Replanted the following seeds into the poly seed raising boxes in the pineapple hothouse: -Amish Paste - Loofah - Italian Basil - Zucchini - Broccoli - Chilayayle Squash - Yellow Squash - Scarlet Runner Beans - Moon and Stars Watermelon - Decorative Table Gourd - Blue Aztec Corn - Shallots - Lovage - Morning Glory - Moonflower - Motherwort - Coneflower - Night Scented Tobacco - Corncockle - Spaghetti Squash - Nastirtium
*I also scattered 1 packet of beetroot seed into the patch where my daughter planted the corn seed
__________________________________________________________________
27th September
On the weekend my sister inlaw gave me some left over corn and carrot seedlings. Today I planted them into my daughters corn patch
__________________________________________________________________
28th September
We have been without a TV for two days now due to my children having tantrums over not getting to watch programs. I was expecting an uphill battle, but aside from a couple of checks every day to see if it turns on, and the occasional 'I wish our telly worked', it has been a piece of cake. Although, the hubby and I have plugged in our little telly in the bedroom of a night time after the kids are alseep to watch it, but I'm not even missing Home and Away The only time I have missed it was yesterday evening when Grand Designs was on (it's one of my fave programs)
__________________________________________________________________
The Garden in September
Well Spring has well and trully got underneath my skin! Today I planted everything I could lay my hands on. It was a gardening frenzy! Any seedling in the hothouses that had two leaves were planted out into the garden. I popped them all into their own individual plastic milk bottle covers to keep them warm if we get a cold snap {GN crosses her fingers, closes her eyes and prays}. I also used more evil snail pellets. I am so scared of losing everything to snails like I did last year that I am being overly cautious this year and dropping my morals some what. Although I also had the extra seed to play around with last year.
So this is what happened:
*6 Decorative Gourds went into the herb garden
*7 Purple Kings along the Kiwi trellis
*1 Lebanese Cucumbers along the top chook wire fence
*13 Pickling Gerkins along the wire (in between the Perpetual Spinach) in the top vegie patch
*2 Zucchini in the top vegie patch
I also sprinkled the rest of the Green Globe Artichoke seeds along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch and covered them with straw. Four handfuls of sunflower seeds were sprinkled along where the Celery was eaten and around the cherry tree, these were covered also in straw. Then my girlfriend rang and asked me if I wanted a bag of Giant Russian Sunflower seeds - I obviously said yes - I have no idea where they will be planted, but I'll fit them in somehow.
My hubby got started on our grape pergola too. Our house has the most windows on the West side, which makes it INCREDIBLY hot in Summer. We are building a pergola part way along these windows to help cut down on the sunlight getting in. So two poles were cemented into place (with two more to follow next week). We then went off to the Sunday market to get Grape vines, after seeing them there for $3 each the other week - to find there were hardly any stalls there because it was Father's Day. So off to the Wandin Nursery we go - nope they're out of vines for this season. So we bought 2 Blueberries instead - Blue Rose and Joy being the varieties. They were covered in some sort of blue spray - I hope it wasn't too poisonous as I had to carry them all the way back in the car.
__________________________________________________________________
4th September
There was a light frost today. And the sunshine that followed got under my skin, and I had to plant things.
I planted:
*17 butterbean seedlings into the fifth row of the new vegie patch. I popped them into milk bottle protectors to keep them warm and to (hopefully) keep the snails out
*Sprinkled poppy seeds (I bought the seeds from the spice section of the supermarket) in with the sunflower seeds I scattered the other day
*Sprinkled Amaranth seed along the brick wall where I scattered the Artichoke seeds
*My daughter planted a packet of Supersweet Bi-Coloured Corn in a block in the top vegie garden
*She also planted 15 pigeon pea seeds directly into the first row of the new vegie patch
__________________________________________________________________
6th September
Today I planted a Banana Passionfruit plant behind the chicken coop. It was a surprise present from a wonderful member of the Eath Garden Path (www.earthgarden.com.au) There are truly some fabulous people on the forum. They are always willing to help out with advice or seeds or plants
__________________________________________________________________
7th September
I planted 27 capicum seedlings today! It's probably overkill, I know, but I have many more I need to find room for The varieties were: Red Bull's Horn, Sweet Delight and Californian Red Bell. I also planted out a Zucchini seedling to replace one that died. I must have planted the other seedlings at the right time though as they have hit the ground running Our White Anzac peach has just started flowering too. Looks like they are a later variety to the Golden Queen which will be nice, not so much of a glut - but then again, can you EVER have too many peaches?!
__________________________________________________________________
10th September
I planted Lima Beans today - straight into the ground. I guess I will loose a lot to snails, but they swell so much with water, that if I plant them into seedling trays, they get too large for their cells. Wish me Luck. I also planted the first Butternut seedlings into their 2 high poly box today.
__________________________________________________________________
13th September
Dug another row in the new garden bed (before the ground dried out too much from the last rain) and planted 8 Banana seed potatoes. I have never heard of Banana potatoes before - so I can't WAIT to taste them. They're very small though..
__________________________________________________________________
16th September
We went to the local market this morning to buy grape vines for our grape pergola. {whisper} We also came home with a very large Tahitian Lime plant...We felt sorry for it...it was the last one there...it was lonely...
(Yes, I've run out of excuses now)
__________________________________________________________________
22nd September
The Spring Equinox seems to affected me Lots of stuff has been done today:
*Planted lettuce seeds (Red & Green, Cos and Great Lakes) under the Josterberry tree to fill up the gaps between the other lettuces
*More Purple King seedlings went in with the others along the kiwi vine trellis. In the same area I also planted 4 spaghetti Squash seedlings
*Planted more Lebanese cucumbers
*Replaced the snail eaten milk capsicums with more seedlings (see, there IS method to my madness of planting waaaaay to many seeds )
*Planted Borlotti Bean seedlings in the strip next to the Cherry tree (gee, I didn't realise how fabulous the soil was there - wonder if it had anything to do with the shredded paper mulch?) *Six Amish Tomato seedlings went into the 4th and 6th rows of the new vegie patch. The seedlings grown in the hothouse have outstripped the ones grown early on my window sill (which haven't grown in size in a month)
*Planted 15 Green Globe Artichoke seedlings into potting mix along the brick wall in the bottom vegie patch. Hopefully these plants will keep the couch grass back
*Four Moon and Stars Watermelon seedlings went into the other 2 high stack of poly boxes next to the old chicken coop. The plan is to cover this ugly box with beautiful melons
*I took the chicken wire down from around the fairy garden (the chooks had broken into the garden long ago, so there is no need for the wire now as all the plants have been eaten and there are now huge hollows of dirt baths where the plants used to be) and nailed it up along the fence behind the pineapple hothouse. I then planted 5 Yellow Squash seedlings beneath it
*Planted Nasturtium seedlings at the base of some of the fruit trees. I have heard that they can help deter cherry and pear slug.
*All the seedlings were mulched heavily and fed with Dynamic Lifter
__________________________________________________________________
23rd September
Will I never learn?! When every I plant out Tomato seedlings and leave them uncovered - you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be frost. So I woke up bright and early this morning and found frost as I let the chickens out of the coop. I then spent the next half an hour gently watering all the frozen seedlings! It looks like I will loose the Moon and Stars Watermelons. I put another poly box over the top anyway to protect them from the sun today {shrugs} The tomatoes look okay though. I put plastic milk bottles round them anyway to protect them in the future.
So, to cheer myself up, I planted more
*Planted Lebanese Cucumber seeds into the hanging basket with the Sweetie Tomato seedlings *Replanted the following seeds into the poly seed raising boxes in the pineapple hothouse: -Amish Paste - Loofah - Italian Basil - Zucchini - Broccoli - Chilayayle Squash - Yellow Squash - Scarlet Runner Beans - Moon and Stars Watermelon - Decorative Table Gourd - Blue Aztec Corn - Shallots - Lovage - Morning Glory - Moonflower - Motherwort - Coneflower - Night Scented Tobacco - Corncockle - Spaghetti Squash - Nastirtium
*I also scattered 1 packet of beetroot seed into the patch where my daughter planted the corn seed
__________________________________________________________________
27th September
On the weekend my sister inlaw gave me some left over corn and carrot seedlings. Today I planted them into my daughters corn patch
__________________________________________________________________
28th September
We have been without a TV for two days now due to my children having tantrums over not getting to watch programs. I was expecting an uphill battle, but aside from a couple of checks every day to see if it turns on, and the occasional 'I wish our telly worked', it has been a piece of cake. Although, the hubby and I have plugged in our little telly in the bedroom of a night time after the kids are alseep to watch it, but I'm not even missing Home and Away The only time I have missed it was yesterday evening when Grand Designs was on (it's one of my fave programs)
__________________________________________________________________
August 2007
1st August
Abbie laid her first blue egg for the season - Spring is well and trully on our doorstep
____________________________________________________________________
2nd August
Today I extended the bottom vegie garden out to meet the path. My hubby has FINALLY given the go ahead to loose the lawn - so I thought I'd better get out there and start digging before he changed his mind I am trying something different this year, instead of planting wherever and stepping carefully, I am doing the lot in rows. Each row is quite narrow, but as I have dug the path between the rows, I have hilled the dirt up on top for better drainage. I am surprised at the condition of the dirt. Once the couch grass is removed, the soil underneath is quite lovely. It's only been clay in a few spots on the paths as I have dug down.
So I planted out the five rows dug as such:
1st row - left bare, it has thich leaf mulch and will be home to the pigeon peas later on
2nd row - Radish and Lettuce seeds
3rd row - Lettuce seeds
4th row - Rocket seeds
5th row - Pak Choi and Mustard seeds
They are all quick growers and will hopefully keep the soil covered until I get some straw
mulch
__________________________________________________________________
3rd August
Harmony escaped. At least I know that clipping both of Bob's wings has worked There goes the seed cover though....
__________________________________________________________________
5th August
I pulled up everything in the bottom vegie patch. Which is less scary than it sounds All that was left there were mainly stunted carrots and leeks that had self seeded too clost together.
They have been replanted into the bottom vegie patch extension as such:
1st row - n/a
2nd row - carrots
3rd row - carrots/leeks/silverbeet
4th row - parsnip/1 radish
5th row - nothing
__________________________________________________________________
6th August
I dug another row today. Then I covered all the rows in straw, which would have been a LOT easier if the mulch was laid BEFORE the seedlings were put in. I then sprinkled some Detroit Globe Beetroot seeds across the remainder of the 4th row and the entire 5th row.
__________________________________________________________________
7th August
My daughter and I pulled up all the potates today. Just as I had suspected - the chooks had had many a fine meal on them. For some strange reason chickens seem to LOVE baby spuds. So we planted all of them back into the bottom vegie patch.
__________________________________________________________________
11th August
The Almond and Golden Queen Peach trees look as though they are about to flower. I suspect the Almond will flower first.
As for planting, this is what I did today:
*Planted seedling lettuces (varieties: Red &Green Mix, Cos and Great Lakes) into 6th row of the new vegie patch
*Pulled up most of the coloured silverbeet seedlings that I had planted way to close together in the top vegie patch and replanted them in the second row of the bottom vegie patch (is it confusing enough yet?!)
*Planted seedling shallots and heirloom carrots into the first row of the bottom vegie patch *Planted seedling nastursiums and Russell Lupins along the top fence
*Dug another row into the new vegie patch I noticed the mustard and/or the pak choi had germinated
__________________________________________________________________
14th August
There was frost this morning. I discovered frozen silverbeet seedlings tossed about everywhere. The blackbird must have pulled them all up yesterday and they froze over night. I replanted them - I dunno how they will fare {shrugs} The ground was frozen down to about half a centimetre.
__________________________________________________________________
15th August
There was frost again this morning though it was no where near as severe as yesterday, it had dissapated by the time we left to walk to school.
__________________________________________________________________
16th August
Today I planted the following seeds and put them into the hothouse.
*Sweetie tomatoes and cucumber into a hanging basket (this will go outside my kitchen window eventually)
*Into punnets I planted Cos, Red & Green and Great Lakes lettuce seeds, as well as grey seeded and black seeded sunflower seeds
*Into the green seedling trays I planted 8 yellow squash, 4 chilayayle squash, 4 Moon & Stars Watermelon and 8 cotton seeds
*Into a black meat tray I planted 20 Fordhook Silverbeet, many Italian Basil and 12 Five Colour Silverbeet seeds
__________________________________________________________________
18th August
Bought seeds today - I just couldn't help myself. I have more than enough seeds to keep us in food, but I STILL find the need to buy more. From the Reject Shop I bought Lebanese cucumbers as they cucumbers I planted the other day may not be viable. Then at Bunnings I also bought some Pickling Gerkin seeds as well as some seedlings (upon my husbands request) of Perpetual Spinach, Rainbow Beetroot, Celery and Mini Cauliflowers.
__________________________________________________________________
19th August
We went to our local market today and came home with a bare rooted Packham Pear - at only $12 we just couldn't leave it there! Eden seeds also had stall there so I bought some Green Globe Artichoke seeds to try as a couch grass barrier. My hubby aslo convinced me we had to try mushrooms again (the last lot we kept forgetting to water), so we came home with a mixed box of Button and Swiss Brown - Yum!
*I planted the following seeds into poly boxes and put them into the pineapple hothouse: Pumpkin, Cucumber, Artichoke and Pickling Gerkin
*I also started planting the perpetual Sinach along the wire in the top vegie patch - Boy, I didn't realise how many plants were in the punnet! At $3.95 for the punnet I got 20 - 30 seedlings - great value for money
*My hubby planted the Packham Pear and I can safely say we now only have room to replace the hazelnuts that the dought killed last year - there really isn't any more room for trees in our yard He also fertilised everything with Dynamic Lifter (with the help of our little green thumb daughter)
__________________________________________________________________
23rd August
I got out there today and finally planted the rest of the Perpetual Spinach. All the seedlings bought on the weekend went in also. Looks like I'm gonna have to keep replanting the Rainbow Beetroot though as the blackbird is rather partial to pulling them out. I don't know what would make me crosser, the bird just pulling them out for fun, or it eating the seedlings - GRRR. I also noticed that most of the frosted silverbeet seedlings had died
__________________________________________________________________
26th August
After throwing Bob and Harmony back into the chicken yard this morning (they had managed to work their way through a small gap in the fence and eat all the Nastursium and Lupin seedlings ) I dug another row in the new vegie patch. I covered it with Dynamic Lifter and Straw and now it can wait until I can be bothered planting something into it.
__________________________________________________________________
27th August
The Golden Queen, Almond and Nectarine all have their first flowers today!! FINALLY And I was right, the Almond was the first to burst, it had actually opened up late yesterday afternoon. Today was also the hottest August day since 1982. Conincidently, 1982 was the year the last big dought broke, so does that mean we are gonna get a lot more rain all of a sudden, or will it be another scarily hot Summer again?
__________________________________________________________________
28th August
I planted two types of Butternut Pumpkin today into a two stack of polyboxes. The seeds will be kept nice and warm and when they grow they will cover the chicken wire fence between the vegie patches and the chook yard. Something ate the Celery right down to ground level last night In the hothousees I have a lot of seeds starting to sprout now. I thought maybe I had planted them too early and they had rotted, but luckily they are all starting off now since the hottest August day.
__________________________________________________________________
29th August
{whisper} I planted tomato seedlings today. Only one punnet of Amish Paste that I have been growing inside on my kitchen windowsill. {whisper again} I also used snail bait - there is no way I'm gonna loose these seedlings. I plan to have masses of tomatoes this year. So I also covered them in plastic to keep them warm over night. I aslo started collecting greywater from our washing machine. The ground is already starting to crack in places.
Abbie laid her first blue egg for the season - Spring is well and trully on our doorstep
____________________________________________________________________
2nd August
Today I extended the bottom vegie garden out to meet the path. My hubby has FINALLY given the go ahead to loose the lawn - so I thought I'd better get out there and start digging before he changed his mind I am trying something different this year, instead of planting wherever and stepping carefully, I am doing the lot in rows. Each row is quite narrow, but as I have dug the path between the rows, I have hilled the dirt up on top for better drainage. I am surprised at the condition of the dirt. Once the couch grass is removed, the soil underneath is quite lovely. It's only been clay in a few spots on the paths as I have dug down.
So I planted out the five rows dug as such:
1st row - left bare, it has thich leaf mulch and will be home to the pigeon peas later on
2nd row - Radish and Lettuce seeds
3rd row - Lettuce seeds
4th row - Rocket seeds
5th row - Pak Choi and Mustard seeds
They are all quick growers and will hopefully keep the soil covered until I get some straw
mulch
__________________________________________________________________
3rd August
Harmony escaped. At least I know that clipping both of Bob's wings has worked There goes the seed cover though....
__________________________________________________________________
5th August
I pulled up everything in the bottom vegie patch. Which is less scary than it sounds All that was left there were mainly stunted carrots and leeks that had self seeded too clost together.
They have been replanted into the bottom vegie patch extension as such:
1st row - n/a
2nd row - carrots
3rd row - carrots/leeks/silverbeet
4th row - parsnip/1 radish
5th row - nothing
__________________________________________________________________
6th August
I dug another row today. Then I covered all the rows in straw, which would have been a LOT easier if the mulch was laid BEFORE the seedlings were put in. I then sprinkled some Detroit Globe Beetroot seeds across the remainder of the 4th row and the entire 5th row.
__________________________________________________________________
7th August
My daughter and I pulled up all the potates today. Just as I had suspected - the chooks had had many a fine meal on them. For some strange reason chickens seem to LOVE baby spuds. So we planted all of them back into the bottom vegie patch.
__________________________________________________________________
11th August
The Almond and Golden Queen Peach trees look as though they are about to flower. I suspect the Almond will flower first.
As for planting, this is what I did today:
*Planted seedling lettuces (varieties: Red &Green Mix, Cos and Great Lakes) into 6th row of the new vegie patch
*Pulled up most of the coloured silverbeet seedlings that I had planted way to close together in the top vegie patch and replanted them in the second row of the bottom vegie patch (is it confusing enough yet?!)
*Planted seedling shallots and heirloom carrots into the first row of the bottom vegie patch *Planted seedling nastursiums and Russell Lupins along the top fence
*Dug another row into the new vegie patch I noticed the mustard and/or the pak choi had germinated
__________________________________________________________________
14th August
There was frost this morning. I discovered frozen silverbeet seedlings tossed about everywhere. The blackbird must have pulled them all up yesterday and they froze over night. I replanted them - I dunno how they will fare {shrugs} The ground was frozen down to about half a centimetre.
__________________________________________________________________
15th August
There was frost again this morning though it was no where near as severe as yesterday, it had dissapated by the time we left to walk to school.
__________________________________________________________________
16th August
Today I planted the following seeds and put them into the hothouse.
*Sweetie tomatoes and cucumber into a hanging basket (this will go outside my kitchen window eventually)
*Into punnets I planted Cos, Red & Green and Great Lakes lettuce seeds, as well as grey seeded and black seeded sunflower seeds
*Into the green seedling trays I planted 8 yellow squash, 4 chilayayle squash, 4 Moon & Stars Watermelon and 8 cotton seeds
*Into a black meat tray I planted 20 Fordhook Silverbeet, many Italian Basil and 12 Five Colour Silverbeet seeds
__________________________________________________________________
18th August
Bought seeds today - I just couldn't help myself. I have more than enough seeds to keep us in food, but I STILL find the need to buy more. From the Reject Shop I bought Lebanese cucumbers as they cucumbers I planted the other day may not be viable. Then at Bunnings I also bought some Pickling Gerkin seeds as well as some seedlings (upon my husbands request) of Perpetual Spinach, Rainbow Beetroot, Celery and Mini Cauliflowers.
__________________________________________________________________
19th August
We went to our local market today and came home with a bare rooted Packham Pear - at only $12 we just couldn't leave it there! Eden seeds also had stall there so I bought some Green Globe Artichoke seeds to try as a couch grass barrier. My hubby aslo convinced me we had to try mushrooms again (the last lot we kept forgetting to water), so we came home with a mixed box of Button and Swiss Brown - Yum!
*I planted the following seeds into poly boxes and put them into the pineapple hothouse: Pumpkin, Cucumber, Artichoke and Pickling Gerkin
*I also started planting the perpetual Sinach along the wire in the top vegie patch - Boy, I didn't realise how many plants were in the punnet! At $3.95 for the punnet I got 20 - 30 seedlings - great value for money
*My hubby planted the Packham Pear and I can safely say we now only have room to replace the hazelnuts that the dought killed last year - there really isn't any more room for trees in our yard He also fertilised everything with Dynamic Lifter (with the help of our little green thumb daughter)
__________________________________________________________________
23rd August
I got out there today and finally planted the rest of the Perpetual Spinach. All the seedlings bought on the weekend went in also. Looks like I'm gonna have to keep replanting the Rainbow Beetroot though as the blackbird is rather partial to pulling them out. I don't know what would make me crosser, the bird just pulling them out for fun, or it eating the seedlings - GRRR. I also noticed that most of the frosted silverbeet seedlings had died
__________________________________________________________________
26th August
After throwing Bob and Harmony back into the chicken yard this morning (they had managed to work their way through a small gap in the fence and eat all the Nastursium and Lupin seedlings ) I dug another row in the new vegie patch. I covered it with Dynamic Lifter and Straw and now it can wait until I can be bothered planting something into it.
__________________________________________________________________
27th August
The Golden Queen, Almond and Nectarine all have their first flowers today!! FINALLY And I was right, the Almond was the first to burst, it had actually opened up late yesterday afternoon. Today was also the hottest August day since 1982. Conincidently, 1982 was the year the last big dought broke, so does that mean we are gonna get a lot more rain all of a sudden, or will it be another scarily hot Summer again?
__________________________________________________________________
28th August
I planted two types of Butternut Pumpkin today into a two stack of polyboxes. The seeds will be kept nice and warm and when they grow they will cover the chicken wire fence between the vegie patches and the chook yard. Something ate the Celery right down to ground level last night In the hothousees I have a lot of seeds starting to sprout now. I thought maybe I had planted them too early and they had rotted, but luckily they are all starting off now since the hottest August day.
__________________________________________________________________
29th August
{whisper} I planted tomato seedlings today. Only one punnet of Amish Paste that I have been growing inside on my kitchen windowsill. {whisper again} I also used snail bait - there is no way I'm gonna loose these seedlings. I plan to have masses of tomatoes this year. So I also covered them in plastic to keep them warm over night. I aslo started collecting greywater from our washing machine. The ground is already starting to crack in places.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
July 2007
1st July
I couldn't work out why I was so excited it was 1st July, then I checked my 'Sow What When' calender and discovered that Tomato seeds can be started in July in cold regions (so long as they are protected from the frost). So plant seeds I did. I contained myself to 20 seeds in two punnets on my kitchen window sill. When they sprout, I will plant another two punnets, and so on until it is warm enough to start them outside. These seeds are special to me, they are my first ever attempt at tomato seed saving and they are of the variety 'Amish Paste'. This year I am only growing this variety as I have hundreds of seed (I say that now, but just you wait till I go through my next seed catalogue )
I also planted out some stunted beetroot seedlings (about 40 of them), ditto the Mesclun seedlings (but only 6 or so), about 80 onion seedlings (only 300 more to find spots for!) and 5 pak choi seedlings.
I FINALLY planted the thornless loganberry and thornless blackberry at the base of the bottom arch. I also planted the Denise blueberry. We've been having problems with our other two blueberries not growing. Apparently this is because the are not planted on mounds to promote good drainage, so I now have two raised (I was too lazy to raise the last one, maybe tomorrow...)
And then my hubby came home from Warburton - the only place in the world to get decent sausages from - and had he purchased an Almond (3 in 1 variety) tree. This was to go in between the strawberry patch and the Kiwi vines, but a buried concrete slab put an end to that, so it is now further out from the strawberries and into the lawn.
*Note: The horrid blackbird DOES like flower seedlings! GRRRRR!! Funny, last year I had all these problems with snails, and now I seem to have jumped that hurdle, only to be knocked in the shins by a tiny little bird (who leaves nasty little red pippy poos as it's calling card...)
*EDIT: And on ANOTHER note: I ordered a cookbook today from Amazon called 'The Beverly Lewis Amish Herritage Cookbook'. It has among other things a preserving section.
**EDIT: Yeah - another one! I found my first snowpea today - YAY!!
___________________________________________________________________
5th July
Bob escaped and dug up all my flower seedlings amongst the currants and asparagus. I'm too scared yet to dig around to see if she also ate the asparagus crowns - they are due to be big enough to eat this year, after two years of waiting, we just may end up with none I also made a hot house frame from some black piping we had scored ages ago from a mate. I'll put the pineapples in this once we have covered it with plastic.
___________________________________________________________________
7th July
I covered the new hothouse with plastic today. I also cut the bottoms out of 4 polystyrene boxes. I got this idea from the Earth Garden forum. Basically, I will stack the boxes two high, fill with chook poo, potting mix and saw dust mulch (to keep the snails out). Then I will start some pumpkin and melon seeds off in the hot house, once they are big enough, I will plant them out into these boxes. The height and polystyrene will insulate the vines and hoepfully give them a real good headstart Of course, at the end of the day we realised that the hens had reached through the fence and were happily consuming the polystyrene and watching with glee (chooks are evil!) as the dirt ran out the bottom. A big sheet of tin put a stop to that.
___________________________________________________________________
10th July
Bob escaped this morning and dug up the rest of my flower seedlings. I threatened to roast her slowly with all the onion seedlings she also dug up. Not to mention the lettuces and silverbeet she ate....
___________________________________________________________________
11th July
Bob escaped again and demolished close to everything. I could have killed her there and then on the spot with my bare hands. Instead I clipped BOTH her wings back severely. I managed to save some beetroot and three lettuces (she thankfully attacked my meclun mix and not my main lettuce bed), but all my onions are gone and we ate plenty of carrots for tea last night. For some strange reason she left the silverbeet seedlings alone, chickens LOVE silverbeet, maybe she was just waiting for them to grow a bit into a hearty meal size, or maybe it's just because she discovered the potato patch and chickens love baby spuds even more than silverbeet...
___________________________________________________________________
14th July
Our fruit trees are starting to swell. I can also see the pink at the ends of the Cherry buds that will burst into flower in Spring. Last week a woman on the radio said we were in for an early Spring because her apple trees were starting to swell. So only time will tell. There are still some leaves left on our Kiwi Fruit vines, which means it really was a mild Winter. It looks like it's shaping up to be another dry, hot Summer then. I just hope we get a LOT of Spring rains to compensate for this.
My Amish Paste seeds have sprouted, out of 20 seeds, I have 19 seedlings. So for my first batch of saved tomato seeds that's pretty impressive - even if I do say so myself So I have removed the plastic bags and they will hopefully thrive on our north-facing kitchen window.
__________________________________________________________________
16th July
Oh deary me! I'm starting to get Spring Fever!! I suddenly feel as though I have left my summer seeds too late (I haven't, if anything, I have planted too early). So this is what I planted today:
Seeds
*Into a polystyrene box I put potting mix and a 1cm layer of seed raising mix and the following seeds: Moon & Stars Watermelon, Decorative Gourds, Eggplant, Hellfire Chilli mix and Naples Melon
*Into seed trays I planted: Lettuce (Red, Green, Great Lakes and Cos), Beans (Dwarf Butter, Magic Bean mix and Borlotti), Nasturstium, Moonflower, Night Scented Tobacco, Morning Glory, Delphinium, Calafornian Poppy, Motherwort, Corncockle and Chinese Forget-Me-Not
*In Situ - Pak Choi, Beetroot, Carrots (seed saved from last year) and Leeks
Seedlings
Pak Choi, Silverbeet, Brocolli (a stray seedling I found in a flower seed tray), Lettuce, Coneflower and Onions
__________________________________________________________________
17th July
Bob escaped AGAIN today. Her new name is McNugget. Although this time it was my cat's fault, as she had pushed through the Qld gate and left a gap for Bob to slip through...
__________________________________________________________________
19th July
Musings on a Winter's day
The big advantage of walking my children to school is that I get to see the world slowly evolve around me. Today I noticed that the red branched roses are starting to sprout new leaves, and this is only a week or two after their owners had pruned them. I would never have noticed this sitting at home, and certainly not if I had driven to school. I've noticed there seems to be 3 different types of roses (in my own scheme of things ): Firstly there are the ones mentioned above that seem to have reddish branches, then there are the ones that have green branches (these also tend to be less thorny), then there are the great old, old thorny ones with the grey branches and the wizened trunks that remind me so much of the thorn bush in 'The Rats of Nimh' (does anyone else remember reading that book at school?). I have also noticed in my travels that some old trees are starting to blossom early. One huge old tree I found in full bloom, another plumbago was starting to show it's magnificent salmon display, and every here and there a tree with one single solitary bloom, almost as if the tree doesn't believe Spring is coming and has sent out a test flower.
All of this I have noticed on the signs of spring and yet in the past week we have had a real turn in the seasons. It is almost as if Mother Nature has noticed us all heralding an early season and she has reclaimed her favours. Our days have been ever so cold and wet and the temperatures have rarely reached double figures (day or night). It is snowing in Kinglake and Olinda and it feels so much like it did when the '81 drought broke(gee, I'm showing my age there ) and there was snow in suburbia. A couple of days in a row I thought we might actually have snow over us, the sky was that dark and moody, but to no avail, plenty of hail though....
__________________________________________________________________
21st July
Today I planted Summer seeds. I filled a polystyrene box with dirt and then a thin layer of seed raising mix and planted the following seeds into it: 1/2 a packet of Purple King Beeds, I packet of Early Extra Sweet Corn and 1 packet of 3 colour capsicum. This box is now cozily snuggled up in the pineapple hothouse (well, not too cozily, the door still needs to be fixed, so it's a bit draughty in there still). I gave my little girl two green trays filled with dirt and she happily planted a packet each of Multi coloured Californian Poppies and Globe Amaranth. These are now in the hothouse also (not that they needed to be, but she snuck them in anyway.)
I also collected seed today. I hauled the massive Zucchini plant out from the vegie patch where it had been camping out since it's vine curled it's toes up at the frost. I have never cut a zucchini this big, so I was surprised to find the flesh was very similar to Spaghetti Squash (did they perhaps cross pollinate?) and out of all the seed cavity, I got only 14 viable seeds. Hopefully I can get these going as the snails usually LOVE sucking the seedlings right out of the ground.
I collected seed from the Spaghetti Squash that has been rolling round on our front porch too (who needs a footy when you have one of these, they're as tough as old boots, and still had edible flesh inside). The amount of seed from this one small squash was much better than my zucchini haul. I have (at a real rough guess) well over 100 seeds. And considering these vines seem to be ignored by all and sundry, there are PLENTY of seeds to go around
Last, but by no means least, I collected seed from my Apple Cucumber. I had let this plant develop in the garden and then bought it inside when it's skin was quite tough. It had spent all Winter in my fruit basket but had been starting to mould and dissolve at the end the past few weeks. I have the seeds soaking in water now as they had a gel round them (like tomatoes do). Quite a few of these seeds appear to be duds though. I'll just have to wait and see....
__________________________________________________________________
22nd July
We visited a friend who conveniently lives near the Wandin Valley Nursery. So we popped in and bought the following:
Pineapple Guava (for our friend)
Divinity Apricot
2 Raspberry Canes (Heritage and Everbearer)
1 punnet of Russell Lupins
All this for around $40 too
__________________________________________________________________
23rd July
The raspberry canes, Apricot and Lupins were planted today. I think we are starting to run out of room for fruit trees. The velcro has been put on the pineapple hothouse so finally the frost sensitive stuff can warm their toes a little more. Although I was surprised at how warm it was in there without the door, even early in the morning. The Josterberry and Kiwi vines have been pruned - can you tell Spring is coming?! I have noticed the Plumbagos are really coming into full swing now, give them another week and they will all be displaying their full bloom. Oh, and the wattle is starting to get in on the act too.
__________________________________________________________________
25th July
Today I received my Loofah, Bulls Horn and Califorian Red Bell Capsicum seeds from the Earth Garden seed swap! As a result I planted out insane amounts of summer seeds into poly boxes that I later put into the pineapple hothouse (which is quickly becoming too small). These are the seeds I planted: Loofah, Bulls Horn Capsicum, Californian Red Bell Capsicum, Pigeon Pea, Amish Paste Tomatoes and Amaranth.
__________________________________________________________________
26th July
So today I decided to plant out all those seedlings in trays to make some more room in the hothouse. As a result, there was a planting frenzy!
This is what happened:
*Parsley got planted as a (hopefully) couch grass border along the bottom vegie patch
*Flanders Poppy got planted randomly (ie/ where ever I could clear a spot) into the herb garden *Stock, Corncockle and Linaria got planted along the top fence next to the berry arch *Canterbury Bells got planted around the Golden Queen Peach
*Shallots were planted out into the top vegie patch in between the lettuces
*And finally, three stray seedlings (I'm pretty sure they're Meclun Lettuce Mix) got planted into the top vegie patch with the one stray brocolli plant that has survived the Bob onslaught
Oh, and I also planted out some Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash seeds into poly boxes that I forgot to plant yesterday
I couldn't work out why I was so excited it was 1st July, then I checked my 'Sow What When' calender and discovered that Tomato seeds can be started in July in cold regions (so long as they are protected from the frost). So plant seeds I did. I contained myself to 20 seeds in two punnets on my kitchen window sill. When they sprout, I will plant another two punnets, and so on until it is warm enough to start them outside. These seeds are special to me, they are my first ever attempt at tomato seed saving and they are of the variety 'Amish Paste'. This year I am only growing this variety as I have hundreds of seed (I say that now, but just you wait till I go through my next seed catalogue )
I also planted out some stunted beetroot seedlings (about 40 of them), ditto the Mesclun seedlings (but only 6 or so), about 80 onion seedlings (only 300 more to find spots for!) and 5 pak choi seedlings.
I FINALLY planted the thornless loganberry and thornless blackberry at the base of the bottom arch. I also planted the Denise blueberry. We've been having problems with our other two blueberries not growing. Apparently this is because the are not planted on mounds to promote good drainage, so I now have two raised (I was too lazy to raise the last one, maybe tomorrow...)
And then my hubby came home from Warburton - the only place in the world to get decent sausages from - and had he purchased an Almond (3 in 1 variety) tree. This was to go in between the strawberry patch and the Kiwi vines, but a buried concrete slab put an end to that, so it is now further out from the strawberries and into the lawn.
*Note: The horrid blackbird DOES like flower seedlings! GRRRRR!! Funny, last year I had all these problems with snails, and now I seem to have jumped that hurdle, only to be knocked in the shins by a tiny little bird (who leaves nasty little red pippy poos as it's calling card...)
*EDIT: And on ANOTHER note: I ordered a cookbook today from Amazon called 'The Beverly Lewis Amish Herritage Cookbook'. It has among other things a preserving section.
**EDIT: Yeah - another one! I found my first snowpea today - YAY!!
___________________________________________________________________
5th July
Bob escaped and dug up all my flower seedlings amongst the currants and asparagus. I'm too scared yet to dig around to see if she also ate the asparagus crowns - they are due to be big enough to eat this year, after two years of waiting, we just may end up with none I also made a hot house frame from some black piping we had scored ages ago from a mate. I'll put the pineapples in this once we have covered it with plastic.
___________________________________________________________________
7th July
I covered the new hothouse with plastic today. I also cut the bottoms out of 4 polystyrene boxes. I got this idea from the Earth Garden forum. Basically, I will stack the boxes two high, fill with chook poo, potting mix and saw dust mulch (to keep the snails out). Then I will start some pumpkin and melon seeds off in the hot house, once they are big enough, I will plant them out into these boxes. The height and polystyrene will insulate the vines and hoepfully give them a real good headstart Of course, at the end of the day we realised that the hens had reached through the fence and were happily consuming the polystyrene and watching with glee (chooks are evil!) as the dirt ran out the bottom. A big sheet of tin put a stop to that.
___________________________________________________________________
10th July
Bob escaped this morning and dug up the rest of my flower seedlings. I threatened to roast her slowly with all the onion seedlings she also dug up. Not to mention the lettuces and silverbeet she ate....
___________________________________________________________________
11th July
Bob escaped again and demolished close to everything. I could have killed her there and then on the spot with my bare hands. Instead I clipped BOTH her wings back severely. I managed to save some beetroot and three lettuces (she thankfully attacked my meclun mix and not my main lettuce bed), but all my onions are gone and we ate plenty of carrots for tea last night. For some strange reason she left the silverbeet seedlings alone, chickens LOVE silverbeet, maybe she was just waiting for them to grow a bit into a hearty meal size, or maybe it's just because she discovered the potato patch and chickens love baby spuds even more than silverbeet...
___________________________________________________________________
14th July
Our fruit trees are starting to swell. I can also see the pink at the ends of the Cherry buds that will burst into flower in Spring. Last week a woman on the radio said we were in for an early Spring because her apple trees were starting to swell. So only time will tell. There are still some leaves left on our Kiwi Fruit vines, which means it really was a mild Winter. It looks like it's shaping up to be another dry, hot Summer then. I just hope we get a LOT of Spring rains to compensate for this.
My Amish Paste seeds have sprouted, out of 20 seeds, I have 19 seedlings. So for my first batch of saved tomato seeds that's pretty impressive - even if I do say so myself So I have removed the plastic bags and they will hopefully thrive on our north-facing kitchen window.
__________________________________________________________________
16th July
Oh deary me! I'm starting to get Spring Fever!! I suddenly feel as though I have left my summer seeds too late (I haven't, if anything, I have planted too early). So this is what I planted today:
Seeds
*Into a polystyrene box I put potting mix and a 1cm layer of seed raising mix and the following seeds: Moon & Stars Watermelon, Decorative Gourds, Eggplant, Hellfire Chilli mix and Naples Melon
*Into seed trays I planted: Lettuce (Red, Green, Great Lakes and Cos), Beans (Dwarf Butter, Magic Bean mix and Borlotti), Nasturstium, Moonflower, Night Scented Tobacco, Morning Glory, Delphinium, Calafornian Poppy, Motherwort, Corncockle and Chinese Forget-Me-Not
*In Situ - Pak Choi, Beetroot, Carrots (seed saved from last year) and Leeks
Seedlings
Pak Choi, Silverbeet, Brocolli (a stray seedling I found in a flower seed tray), Lettuce, Coneflower and Onions
__________________________________________________________________
17th July
Bob escaped AGAIN today. Her new name is McNugget. Although this time it was my cat's fault, as she had pushed through the Qld gate and left a gap for Bob to slip through...
__________________________________________________________________
19th July
Musings on a Winter's day
The big advantage of walking my children to school is that I get to see the world slowly evolve around me. Today I noticed that the red branched roses are starting to sprout new leaves, and this is only a week or two after their owners had pruned them. I would never have noticed this sitting at home, and certainly not if I had driven to school. I've noticed there seems to be 3 different types of roses (in my own scheme of things ): Firstly there are the ones mentioned above that seem to have reddish branches, then there are the ones that have green branches (these also tend to be less thorny), then there are the great old, old thorny ones with the grey branches and the wizened trunks that remind me so much of the thorn bush in 'The Rats of Nimh' (does anyone else remember reading that book at school?). I have also noticed in my travels that some old trees are starting to blossom early. One huge old tree I found in full bloom, another plumbago was starting to show it's magnificent salmon display, and every here and there a tree with one single solitary bloom, almost as if the tree doesn't believe Spring is coming and has sent out a test flower.
All of this I have noticed on the signs of spring and yet in the past week we have had a real turn in the seasons. It is almost as if Mother Nature has noticed us all heralding an early season and she has reclaimed her favours. Our days have been ever so cold and wet and the temperatures have rarely reached double figures (day or night). It is snowing in Kinglake and Olinda and it feels so much like it did when the '81 drought broke(gee, I'm showing my age there ) and there was snow in suburbia. A couple of days in a row I thought we might actually have snow over us, the sky was that dark and moody, but to no avail, plenty of hail though....
__________________________________________________________________
21st July
Today I planted Summer seeds. I filled a polystyrene box with dirt and then a thin layer of seed raising mix and planted the following seeds into it: 1/2 a packet of Purple King Beeds, I packet of Early Extra Sweet Corn and 1 packet of 3 colour capsicum. This box is now cozily snuggled up in the pineapple hothouse (well, not too cozily, the door still needs to be fixed, so it's a bit draughty in there still). I gave my little girl two green trays filled with dirt and she happily planted a packet each of Multi coloured Californian Poppies and Globe Amaranth. These are now in the hothouse also (not that they needed to be, but she snuck them in anyway.)
I also collected seed today. I hauled the massive Zucchini plant out from the vegie patch where it had been camping out since it's vine curled it's toes up at the frost. I have never cut a zucchini this big, so I was surprised to find the flesh was very similar to Spaghetti Squash (did they perhaps cross pollinate?) and out of all the seed cavity, I got only 14 viable seeds. Hopefully I can get these going as the snails usually LOVE sucking the seedlings right out of the ground.
I collected seed from the Spaghetti Squash that has been rolling round on our front porch too (who needs a footy when you have one of these, they're as tough as old boots, and still had edible flesh inside). The amount of seed from this one small squash was much better than my zucchini haul. I have (at a real rough guess) well over 100 seeds. And considering these vines seem to be ignored by all and sundry, there are PLENTY of seeds to go around
Last, but by no means least, I collected seed from my Apple Cucumber. I had let this plant develop in the garden and then bought it inside when it's skin was quite tough. It had spent all Winter in my fruit basket but had been starting to mould and dissolve at the end the past few weeks. I have the seeds soaking in water now as they had a gel round them (like tomatoes do). Quite a few of these seeds appear to be duds though. I'll just have to wait and see....
__________________________________________________________________
22nd July
We visited a friend who conveniently lives near the Wandin Valley Nursery. So we popped in and bought the following:
Pineapple Guava (for our friend)
Divinity Apricot
2 Raspberry Canes (Heritage and Everbearer)
1 punnet of Russell Lupins
All this for around $40 too
__________________________________________________________________
23rd July
The raspberry canes, Apricot and Lupins were planted today. I think we are starting to run out of room for fruit trees. The velcro has been put on the pineapple hothouse so finally the frost sensitive stuff can warm their toes a little more. Although I was surprised at how warm it was in there without the door, even early in the morning. The Josterberry and Kiwi vines have been pruned - can you tell Spring is coming?! I have noticed the Plumbagos are really coming into full swing now, give them another week and they will all be displaying their full bloom. Oh, and the wattle is starting to get in on the act too.
__________________________________________________________________
25th July
Today I received my Loofah, Bulls Horn and Califorian Red Bell Capsicum seeds from the Earth Garden seed swap! As a result I planted out insane amounts of summer seeds into poly boxes that I later put into the pineapple hothouse (which is quickly becoming too small). These are the seeds I planted: Loofah, Bulls Horn Capsicum, Californian Red Bell Capsicum, Pigeon Pea, Amish Paste Tomatoes and Amaranth.
__________________________________________________________________
26th July
So today I decided to plant out all those seedlings in trays to make some more room in the hothouse. As a result, there was a planting frenzy!
This is what happened:
*Parsley got planted as a (hopefully) couch grass border along the bottom vegie patch
*Flanders Poppy got planted randomly (ie/ where ever I could clear a spot) into the herb garden *Stock, Corncockle and Linaria got planted along the top fence next to the berry arch *Canterbury Bells got planted around the Golden Queen Peach
*Shallots were planted out into the top vegie patch in between the lettuces
*And finally, three stray seedlings (I'm pretty sure they're Meclun Lettuce Mix) got planted into the top vegie patch with the one stray brocolli plant that has survived the Bob onslaught
Oh, and I also planted out some Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash seeds into poly boxes that I forgot to plant yesterday
June 2007
1st June
It's the first day of Winter! To celebrate Abbie the chook escaped and dug up my entire vegie garden. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so recently nearly killed, I think I could have been just cranky enough to consider what vegies to serve up with her As a result, I have put more chicken wire around the vegie patch. You know, when I bought 50 metres of the stuff, I thought I would never need it all, I used the last of it today.
__________________________________________________________________
2nd June
Thanks to Abbie, I have sprinkled the following seed throughout the vegie garden while i wait for the seedlings to get big enough to plant: Brussel Sprouts Pak Choi Lettuce - Mesclun Mix Broccoli
__________________________________________________________________
4th June
I discovered the most DIVINE nursery yesterday in Wandin. It sells a huge range of barerooted fruit trees. I only had enough money on me to purchase one tree. It was a toss up between Cox's Orange Pippin apple and Golden Queen peach, but the peach won. Now to start saving so when we go back I can get the apple as well as some late variety rasberries, guavas (3 different varieties), an avocado, a double grafted almond, some blueberries, and goodness knows what else...
I moved the pot with the Coffee plant and the Sugarcane down against the northfacing wall and covered it in a mini hot house as they were both looking a bit pale and sickly since planting it.
Last night I was reading Jackie French's 'The Earth Gardener's Companion' and this is what she said for June: 'This is the waiting time, the watching time, the time to clean up and plan.' (page 38 ) I disagree whole-heatedly with this. I tend to go nuts in June. I don't know why, maybe it's because it's cold, and the earth is wet and easy to dig, but I just feel this insane need to get out and DO STUFF in the garden in June!
___________________________________________________________________
8th June
I decided to buy an arch today after finding a blue climbing rose on special for $5. Lets just say that as a result of trying to put it together, the cat now has many more 'interesting' ways to use the 'F' word after perching on the fence to 'supervise'. I will never, EVER buy that brand of arches again!
___________________________________________________________________
9th June
I decided to have a bath today, Bob the hen heard the water running and thought she had better perch on the window sill and chat to me through the window screen. Very cute, but just a tad bit disturbing to have a chook watching you...
___________________________________________________________________
10th June
Well the hubby came home with a Cox's Orange Pippin apple today!! Tres happy I am. He also bought two different raspberries and a climbing loganberry. I pruned all the fruit trees and stuck most of the cuttings into the ground at the base of the trees, maybe some will grow?
___________________________________________________________________
11th June
Well.....I bought another one of those dreadful aches today. After reading that the loganberry was a climber I just couldn't help myself. Thankfully this one came together in no time
___________________________________________________________________
12th June
We had our first frost this weekend (can't remember which day).
I have a plan to 'Think Globally, Act Locally'. I call it 'Share the Wealth'. I plan to write up a short pamphlet explaining how easy it is to grow vegies in a suburban backyard, but more importantly WHY it is so important to do so, then I am going to attach some of my saved seeds (probably Silverbeet and/or peas as at the moment they are in season, and ever so easy to grow) and drop them anonymously into my neighbours letterboxes. Maybe some of them will actually plant the seeds....
__________________________________________________________________
18th June
It's that time of the year when I itch impatiently for the Winter Solstice. With the shortest day comes the changing tide as the days start growing ever so slowly. I know that the worst of Winter is still yet to come, but I like to think with the passing of the shortest day, Spring will be not far behind...
So this weekend we bought a Thornless Loganberry, a thornless Blackberry and a variety of Blueberry we didn't have called Denise. The berries will be planted next to the arch I put up last weekend.
__________________________________________________________________
22th June
Happy Winter Solstice!
The longest night has passed and now as the days ever so slowly lengthen, I get crazy for the approach of Spring. In reality Winter has only just begun, but the itch to start Spring seedlings has hit all ready. The Oat seeds have sprouted, but I think the pesky blackbird has guzzled all my Spelt Wheat seeds. The cherry tree has finally lost it's leaves and loads of seeds are sprouting in the seed trays.
__________________________________________________________________
23rd June
With the darkness and chill of Winter I got the sudden urge to plant flower seedlings EVERYWHERE! Come Springtime, our garden should look divine (I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the blackbird doesn't like flower seedlings as well as everything else). So I planted carnations, corncockle, flanders poppy, stock, canterbury bells, hearts ease and linaria along both the bottom vegie garden and the garden bed along the path to the front door (where the asparagus should sprout to edible size in Spring).
_________________________________________________________________
24th June
At 10am this morning there is still frost on the ground.
It's the first day of Winter! To celebrate Abbie the chook escaped and dug up my entire vegie garden. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so recently nearly killed, I think I could have been just cranky enough to consider what vegies to serve up with her As a result, I have put more chicken wire around the vegie patch. You know, when I bought 50 metres of the stuff, I thought I would never need it all, I used the last of it today.
__________________________________________________________________
2nd June
Thanks to Abbie, I have sprinkled the following seed throughout the vegie garden while i wait for the seedlings to get big enough to plant: Brussel Sprouts Pak Choi Lettuce - Mesclun Mix Broccoli
__________________________________________________________________
4th June
I discovered the most DIVINE nursery yesterday in Wandin. It sells a huge range of barerooted fruit trees. I only had enough money on me to purchase one tree. It was a toss up between Cox's Orange Pippin apple and Golden Queen peach, but the peach won. Now to start saving so when we go back I can get the apple as well as some late variety rasberries, guavas (3 different varieties), an avocado, a double grafted almond, some blueberries, and goodness knows what else...
I moved the pot with the Coffee plant and the Sugarcane down against the northfacing wall and covered it in a mini hot house as they were both looking a bit pale and sickly since planting it.
Last night I was reading Jackie French's 'The Earth Gardener's Companion' and this is what she said for June: 'This is the waiting time, the watching time, the time to clean up and plan.' (page 38 ) I disagree whole-heatedly with this. I tend to go nuts in June. I don't know why, maybe it's because it's cold, and the earth is wet and easy to dig, but I just feel this insane need to get out and DO STUFF in the garden in June!
___________________________________________________________________
8th June
I decided to buy an arch today after finding a blue climbing rose on special for $5. Lets just say that as a result of trying to put it together, the cat now has many more 'interesting' ways to use the 'F' word after perching on the fence to 'supervise'. I will never, EVER buy that brand of arches again!
___________________________________________________________________
9th June
I decided to have a bath today, Bob the hen heard the water running and thought she had better perch on the window sill and chat to me through the window screen. Very cute, but just a tad bit disturbing to have a chook watching you...
___________________________________________________________________
10th June
Well the hubby came home with a Cox's Orange Pippin apple today!! Tres happy I am. He also bought two different raspberries and a climbing loganberry. I pruned all the fruit trees and stuck most of the cuttings into the ground at the base of the trees, maybe some will grow?
___________________________________________________________________
11th June
Well.....I bought another one of those dreadful aches today. After reading that the loganberry was a climber I just couldn't help myself. Thankfully this one came together in no time
___________________________________________________________________
12th June
We had our first frost this weekend (can't remember which day).
I have a plan to 'Think Globally, Act Locally'. I call it 'Share the Wealth'. I plan to write up a short pamphlet explaining how easy it is to grow vegies in a suburban backyard, but more importantly WHY it is so important to do so, then I am going to attach some of my saved seeds (probably Silverbeet and/or peas as at the moment they are in season, and ever so easy to grow) and drop them anonymously into my neighbours letterboxes. Maybe some of them will actually plant the seeds....
__________________________________________________________________
18th June
It's that time of the year when I itch impatiently for the Winter Solstice. With the shortest day comes the changing tide as the days start growing ever so slowly. I know that the worst of Winter is still yet to come, but I like to think with the passing of the shortest day, Spring will be not far behind...
So this weekend we bought a Thornless Loganberry, a thornless Blackberry and a variety of Blueberry we didn't have called Denise. The berries will be planted next to the arch I put up last weekend.
__________________________________________________________________
22th June
Happy Winter Solstice!
The longest night has passed and now as the days ever so slowly lengthen, I get crazy for the approach of Spring. In reality Winter has only just begun, but the itch to start Spring seedlings has hit all ready. The Oat seeds have sprouted, but I think the pesky blackbird has guzzled all my Spelt Wheat seeds. The cherry tree has finally lost it's leaves and loads of seeds are sprouting in the seed trays.
__________________________________________________________________
23rd June
With the darkness and chill of Winter I got the sudden urge to plant flower seedlings EVERYWHERE! Come Springtime, our garden should look divine (I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the blackbird doesn't like flower seedlings as well as everything else). So I planted carnations, corncockle, flanders poppy, stock, canterbury bells, hearts ease and linaria along both the bottom vegie garden and the garden bed along the path to the front door (where the asparagus should sprout to edible size in Spring).
_________________________________________________________________
24th June
At 10am this morning there is still frost on the ground.
May 2007
2nd May
White Milo was killed last night My brother inlaw came round with a trap and it will be set to try and catch whatever it is that is trying to kill all the chooks.
____________________________________________________________________
5th May
**Yep, I've planted MORE seeds:
20 Mesclun Lettuce Mix
20 Hearts Ease
20 Delphinium
50 Corncockle
50 Flanders Poppy
20 Stock
20 Linaria
20 Brocolli
I plan to use all these flowers to line our chicken wire fences and to create a cottage garden in the front yard (although my hubby is none the wiser He's not really into flowers. My Father inlaw bought us 2 large and 4 small pineapple plants at an auction for us today! I have no idea where we will put them although whispers of a Sunroom are starting to emerge
___________________________________________________________________
6th May
I got out in the garden today after my hubby mowed. He and I both raked up all the mown grass and myself and the kids piled it up in the vegie garden to use as mulch and to (hopefully) keep the weeds out of new garden beds until the seedlings are big enough to plant out. On top of the grass, I sprinkled Mustard seeds. There grow so quickly that they also help to keep out the weeds. I also did loads of weeding in both vegie gardens so needless to say that the 7 remaining hens were most impressed with all the green food to scratch through. It's so funny to watch. As the first weed is pulled, all the hens raise their heads in unison, by the time the second weed is pulled they are all lined up along the fence waiting ever so impatiently for me to throw them all over.
The Sunflower seeds I planted on a whim at the end of Summer are now starting to flower! So I now know that it's better to start the Sunflowers off in situ LATER into the growing season. There were no sappy weakings of seedlings and none of them got attacked by slugs or snails. Once again Jackie French was right
___________________________________________________________________
9th May
Planted the following seeds (no comment!):
60 Amaranth
10 Greenfeast Pea
16 Snowpea
20 Carnation
10 Marshmallow
10 Crimson Silverbeet
10 Five Coloured Silverbeet
10 Yellow Silverbeet
10 Fordhook Silverbeet (No, I don't like Silverbeet at all )
Sprouting:
Pak Choi
Sugarsnap Peas (These are nearly ready to plant out)
Beetroot
Hollyhock
Canterbury Bells (I am most excited about this - I have NEVER had them sprout before!!) Brocolli
And something that is NOT Shallots is sprouting in the Shallots cells??
Well, for the first time ever I winnowed seed!! This is when you get the dried seed and all the fluff and stuff that comes with saving seeds and put it into a large flatish dish (Read: pasta bowl) and sit out in the breeze and toss the bowl up and down gently. The fluff and stuff takes off in the breeze but the heavier seeds drop back into the dish. It sounds so silly to say, but I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It's one of those menial tasks that can be done while your mind can wander. I was able to sit there (and in the process get completely covered in fluff and stuff - only afterwards did I think to move myself sideways and out of the direction of the wind ) and just soak up life around me. The way the breeze snuck under my hair, the sound of the birds far off over the train line, the smell of the neighbours freshly mown grass and the warmness of the sun.
___________________________________________________________________
10th May
I have come to the realisation that perhaps I am meant to stay in suburbia. I have spent my whole life wishing desperately to be out of it. But I was reading an article about urban community gardens the other day and I suddenly realised that I am actually being quite elitest in my opinion to self sufficiency. I look down on all the suburbanites around me who have manicured sterile gardens. But by moving AWAY from it all, I am not improving anything. The masses are all about me and I have a real oportunity to think globally by acting locally. Of course, the very next day as I'm walking my littlies to school, I noticed the great big huge ENORMOUS open spaces I walk past every day that could very easily be converted into community gardens. Luckily I have a friend whose mother co-wrote a book on community gardens, so I'm going to approach her and find out how I can go about approaching the local council and asking to use their land. As a result of this realisation, the mission to heavily plant out the backyard has begun. This morning I am ordering a whole heap of barerooted plants from Greenpatch (http://www.greenpatchseeds.com.au/)
*UPDATE*
So this is what I ordered:
3 Water Chestnut
Barerooted Coffee Barerooted
Elderberry
Barerooted Rhubarb
Barerooted Sugar Cane
Motherwort Seeds
Green Tea Seeds
Pigeon Pea Seeds
Oats Seeds
Spelt Wheat Seeds
Amaranth Grain
Autumn is the time of year when a lot of grain crops are planted, therefore I am attempting to grow my own this year
___________________________________________________________________
10th May
I wandered round the garden today and made a list of what is actually edible in our garden. I'm sure I've missed stuff, and I haven't included any of the seedlings, but here is the list:
Eating Now
Banana Passionfruit (thanks to the neighbour in front), Rosemary, Angelica, Lemon Balm, Sage, Curry Bush, Lime Balm, Basil, Jeruselum Artichoke, Mint/s, Thyme, Earth Nuts, Winter Savoury, Chives, Salad Burnett, Dock, Danelion, Plaintain, Mallow, Garlic Chives, Lovage, Thai Basil, Strawberries, Bay Tree, Oregano, Potato, Marigold, Silverbeet, Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini, Coriander, Radish Just Finishing Yacon, Chilli, Betony, Horseradish, Pineapple, Corn, Tomatoes, Josterberry, Scarlet Runner, Cherry,
Coming into Season/Wrong Season
Rhubarb, Borage, Stevia, Garlic, Peas, Blueberry, Nectarine, Peach, Roses, Parsnip, Lettuce, Sunflowers, Lima Beans, Carrots, Leeks, Mustard, Beetroot, Oranges, Tangelo, Cherry Plums, Apple, Berries (various), Choko, Luffa
Not Old Enough to Fruit Yet
Chocolate Vine, Cranberry, Currants, Asparagus, Ice Cream Bean Tree, Kiwi Fruit, Grapes, Josephine Pear, Tamarillo, Rose Apple, Passionfruit, Eggplant, Mandarin, Hazelnut, Choko, Ginger
_________________________________________________________________
12th May
*Planted:
-1 packet of Broad Beans in where I pulled the corn out
-2 packets of onions in a seed tray
-2 packets of mustard. 1 pkt against the back of the bottom vegie garden to try and keep the couch grass out, and 1 pkt over any bare spots in the vegie gardens
-Ice Cream Bean Tree. This has been in a pot for ages, in the process of getting it out of the pot (it had grown through the pot and into the ground), I found that one of my avocado seeds had sprouted! It only has a tap root so far, but I quickly re-buried it and covered it in some autumn leaf mulch
*Dug a garden bed along the top fence. I'll be planting lots of flowers in here to create a living fence to cover up the chicken wire. The garden was covered in a very thick layer of raked autumn leaves to try and keep the couch at bay while the flower seedlings grow
__________________________________________________________________
17th May
Yesterday I received all my new plants from Greenpatch. Today I was planning to dig a new garden bed at the bottom fence and plant out my new plants and seeds. Instead it's raining! It started off with lovely gentle rain to soften the ground, and now we have big enorous heavy splats of rain with rolling thunder and the odd flash of lightening - it's just heavenly to my ears.
___________________________________________________________________
18th May
We nearly lost another chook last night. She was dragged by what ever it is that is taking them, but she somehow managed to escape - of course I didn't know this until the morning. I spent the rest of the night grieving the loss of another chook (and the only one that lays blue eggs). This morning I got up to let the other girls out and a wet bedraggled thing greeted me. Due to moutling and the shock, half her feathers are now missing, but she is alive. I added some antibiotics to the water to prevent infection (after discovering open wounds on her neck), and my hubby added some strips of wire to the base of the chicken coop - this will prevent the girls from being able to get under the chicken coop.
On a lighter note, I got out and planted a whole heap of pea seedlings - and then re-planted them once the blackbirds discovered them. They don't eat them, they just like to dig them up :shrugs:
___________________________________________________________________
20th May
Dug a new garden bed along the chicken yard fence. I covered it with raked autumn leaves and in Spring, this is where the pigeon peas will be grown so the chooks can nibble them through the wire. I also planted my coffee plant and sugar cane into pots. They are warm climate plants and at least if they are in pots, I can move them to warmer spots if need be. Planted the Rhubarb up in my herb garden next to the other rhubarb plant. I also planted my Green Tea seeds into pots - I never realised how big the seeds are - considering they come from a Camelia.
___________________________________________________________________
22nd May
Planted the following seedlings:
Beetroot
Pak Choi
Broccoli
Lettuce - Mesclun Mix
Hollyhock
Snowpeas
I surrounded them all with sawdust. Now lets see if this keeps the snails off them
___________________________________________________________________
23rd May
Seeds planted today:
Pak Choi
Carrot - Heirloom Mix
Sugarsnap Peas
Leek - Autumn Giant
Replanted the snowpeas after the blackbirds dug them up (again!) Wrapped wire around them to keep the damn birds out - this place really needs to be re-named 'The Chookwire Palace'
The sawdust seems to be working against the snails - not one lettuce has gone missing - YAY!
___________________________________________________________________
29th May
"Feed the Earth and She will grow
Feed the machine and it will short-circuit.
Which will Humanity choose to feed -
The hand that feeds it or the hand that bites it?"
-Anon.
"Unknowingly we plough the dust of stars,
blown around us by the wind, and
drink the universe in a glass of rain."
-Ihab Hassah
___________________________________________________________________
30th May
I bought a hand operated paper shreader from the Reject Shop. I'm so excited about it. It means I can shread all the old 'used to be important' bits of paper I have been hoarding because they have our personal details on them (Yeah I watch waaaay too much Today Tonight). It took me a couple of hours to shread a wheelie bin's worth of paper, but it is highly addictive and it doesn't run on electricity so it is good for the environment As a result of all this paper shreading, today I cleared all the couch grass from between the two vegie gardens and laid down a wheelie bin's worth of paper, covered this with raked autumn leaves and sprinkled some Spelt Wheat on it. Hopefully it will grow. About half an hour after sprinkling the seed, I was back out there tying plastic bags to the chicken wire to deter the blackbirds from eating all the grain. Like I said, hopefully it will grow!
I also sprinkled some beetroot seed in amongst the beetrrot seedlings, some pak choi seeds in amongst the pak choi seedlings and some lettuce seed under the Josterberry tree. This is seed I saved from the summer lettuces and is a mix of Mesclun Mix, Red Iceberg and Cos Verdi.
___________________________________________________________________
31st May
I dug out the couch grass from the patch infront of the roses and passionfruit. I put down a wheelie bin of shreaded paper and some autumn leaves. I sprinkled it with Oat seed and tied plastic bags all around
*Ha! beatcha to it blackbird!*
White Milo was killed last night My brother inlaw came round with a trap and it will be set to try and catch whatever it is that is trying to kill all the chooks.
____________________________________________________________________
5th May
**Yep, I've planted MORE seeds:
20 Mesclun Lettuce Mix
20 Hearts Ease
20 Delphinium
50 Corncockle
50 Flanders Poppy
20 Stock
20 Linaria
20 Brocolli
I plan to use all these flowers to line our chicken wire fences and to create a cottage garden in the front yard (although my hubby is none the wiser He's not really into flowers. My Father inlaw bought us 2 large and 4 small pineapple plants at an auction for us today! I have no idea where we will put them although whispers of a Sunroom are starting to emerge
___________________________________________________________________
6th May
I got out in the garden today after my hubby mowed. He and I both raked up all the mown grass and myself and the kids piled it up in the vegie garden to use as mulch and to (hopefully) keep the weeds out of new garden beds until the seedlings are big enough to plant out. On top of the grass, I sprinkled Mustard seeds. There grow so quickly that they also help to keep out the weeds. I also did loads of weeding in both vegie gardens so needless to say that the 7 remaining hens were most impressed with all the green food to scratch through. It's so funny to watch. As the first weed is pulled, all the hens raise their heads in unison, by the time the second weed is pulled they are all lined up along the fence waiting ever so impatiently for me to throw them all over.
The Sunflower seeds I planted on a whim at the end of Summer are now starting to flower! So I now know that it's better to start the Sunflowers off in situ LATER into the growing season. There were no sappy weakings of seedlings and none of them got attacked by slugs or snails. Once again Jackie French was right
___________________________________________________________________
9th May
Planted the following seeds (no comment!):
60 Amaranth
10 Greenfeast Pea
16 Snowpea
20 Carnation
10 Marshmallow
10 Crimson Silverbeet
10 Five Coloured Silverbeet
10 Yellow Silverbeet
10 Fordhook Silverbeet (No, I don't like Silverbeet at all )
Sprouting:
Pak Choi
Sugarsnap Peas (These are nearly ready to plant out)
Beetroot
Hollyhock
Canterbury Bells (I am most excited about this - I have NEVER had them sprout before!!) Brocolli
And something that is NOT Shallots is sprouting in the Shallots cells??
Well, for the first time ever I winnowed seed!! This is when you get the dried seed and all the fluff and stuff that comes with saving seeds and put it into a large flatish dish (Read: pasta bowl) and sit out in the breeze and toss the bowl up and down gently. The fluff and stuff takes off in the breeze but the heavier seeds drop back into the dish. It sounds so silly to say, but I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It's one of those menial tasks that can be done while your mind can wander. I was able to sit there (and in the process get completely covered in fluff and stuff - only afterwards did I think to move myself sideways and out of the direction of the wind ) and just soak up life around me. The way the breeze snuck under my hair, the sound of the birds far off over the train line, the smell of the neighbours freshly mown grass and the warmness of the sun.
___________________________________________________________________
10th May
I have come to the realisation that perhaps I am meant to stay in suburbia. I have spent my whole life wishing desperately to be out of it. But I was reading an article about urban community gardens the other day and I suddenly realised that I am actually being quite elitest in my opinion to self sufficiency. I look down on all the suburbanites around me who have manicured sterile gardens. But by moving AWAY from it all, I am not improving anything. The masses are all about me and I have a real oportunity to think globally by acting locally. Of course, the very next day as I'm walking my littlies to school, I noticed the great big huge ENORMOUS open spaces I walk past every day that could very easily be converted into community gardens. Luckily I have a friend whose mother co-wrote a book on community gardens, so I'm going to approach her and find out how I can go about approaching the local council and asking to use their land. As a result of this realisation, the mission to heavily plant out the backyard has begun. This morning I am ordering a whole heap of barerooted plants from Greenpatch (http://www.greenpatchseeds.com.au/)
*UPDATE*
So this is what I ordered:
3 Water Chestnut
Barerooted Coffee Barerooted
Elderberry
Barerooted Rhubarb
Barerooted Sugar Cane
Motherwort Seeds
Green Tea Seeds
Pigeon Pea Seeds
Oats Seeds
Spelt Wheat Seeds
Amaranth Grain
Autumn is the time of year when a lot of grain crops are planted, therefore I am attempting to grow my own this year
___________________________________________________________________
10th May
I wandered round the garden today and made a list of what is actually edible in our garden. I'm sure I've missed stuff, and I haven't included any of the seedlings, but here is the list:
Eating Now
Banana Passionfruit (thanks to the neighbour in front), Rosemary, Angelica, Lemon Balm, Sage, Curry Bush, Lime Balm, Basil, Jeruselum Artichoke, Mint/s, Thyme, Earth Nuts, Winter Savoury, Chives, Salad Burnett, Dock, Danelion, Plaintain, Mallow, Garlic Chives, Lovage, Thai Basil, Strawberries, Bay Tree, Oregano, Potato, Marigold, Silverbeet, Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini, Coriander, Radish Just Finishing Yacon, Chilli, Betony, Horseradish, Pineapple, Corn, Tomatoes, Josterberry, Scarlet Runner, Cherry,
Coming into Season/Wrong Season
Rhubarb, Borage, Stevia, Garlic, Peas, Blueberry, Nectarine, Peach, Roses, Parsnip, Lettuce, Sunflowers, Lima Beans, Carrots, Leeks, Mustard, Beetroot, Oranges, Tangelo, Cherry Plums, Apple, Berries (various), Choko, Luffa
Not Old Enough to Fruit Yet
Chocolate Vine, Cranberry, Currants, Asparagus, Ice Cream Bean Tree, Kiwi Fruit, Grapes, Josephine Pear, Tamarillo, Rose Apple, Passionfruit, Eggplant, Mandarin, Hazelnut, Choko, Ginger
_________________________________________________________________
12th May
*Planted:
-1 packet of Broad Beans in where I pulled the corn out
-2 packets of onions in a seed tray
-2 packets of mustard. 1 pkt against the back of the bottom vegie garden to try and keep the couch grass out, and 1 pkt over any bare spots in the vegie gardens
-Ice Cream Bean Tree. This has been in a pot for ages, in the process of getting it out of the pot (it had grown through the pot and into the ground), I found that one of my avocado seeds had sprouted! It only has a tap root so far, but I quickly re-buried it and covered it in some autumn leaf mulch
*Dug a garden bed along the top fence. I'll be planting lots of flowers in here to create a living fence to cover up the chicken wire. The garden was covered in a very thick layer of raked autumn leaves to try and keep the couch at bay while the flower seedlings grow
__________________________________________________________________
17th May
Yesterday I received all my new plants from Greenpatch. Today I was planning to dig a new garden bed at the bottom fence and plant out my new plants and seeds. Instead it's raining! It started off with lovely gentle rain to soften the ground, and now we have big enorous heavy splats of rain with rolling thunder and the odd flash of lightening - it's just heavenly to my ears.
___________________________________________________________________
18th May
We nearly lost another chook last night. She was dragged by what ever it is that is taking them, but she somehow managed to escape - of course I didn't know this until the morning. I spent the rest of the night grieving the loss of another chook (and the only one that lays blue eggs). This morning I got up to let the other girls out and a wet bedraggled thing greeted me. Due to moutling and the shock, half her feathers are now missing, but she is alive. I added some antibiotics to the water to prevent infection (after discovering open wounds on her neck), and my hubby added some strips of wire to the base of the chicken coop - this will prevent the girls from being able to get under the chicken coop.
On a lighter note, I got out and planted a whole heap of pea seedlings - and then re-planted them once the blackbirds discovered them. They don't eat them, they just like to dig them up :shrugs:
___________________________________________________________________
20th May
Dug a new garden bed along the chicken yard fence. I covered it with raked autumn leaves and in Spring, this is where the pigeon peas will be grown so the chooks can nibble them through the wire. I also planted my coffee plant and sugar cane into pots. They are warm climate plants and at least if they are in pots, I can move them to warmer spots if need be. Planted the Rhubarb up in my herb garden next to the other rhubarb plant. I also planted my Green Tea seeds into pots - I never realised how big the seeds are - considering they come from a Camelia.
___________________________________________________________________
22nd May
Planted the following seedlings:
Beetroot
Pak Choi
Broccoli
Lettuce - Mesclun Mix
Hollyhock
Snowpeas
I surrounded them all with sawdust. Now lets see if this keeps the snails off them
___________________________________________________________________
23rd May
Seeds planted today:
Pak Choi
Carrot - Heirloom Mix
Sugarsnap Peas
Leek - Autumn Giant
Replanted the snowpeas after the blackbirds dug them up (again!) Wrapped wire around them to keep the damn birds out - this place really needs to be re-named 'The Chookwire Palace'
The sawdust seems to be working against the snails - not one lettuce has gone missing - YAY!
___________________________________________________________________
29th May
"Feed the Earth and She will grow
Feed the machine and it will short-circuit.
Which will Humanity choose to feed -
The hand that feeds it or the hand that bites it?"
-Anon.
"Unknowingly we plough the dust of stars,
blown around us by the wind, and
drink the universe in a glass of rain."
-Ihab Hassah
___________________________________________________________________
30th May
I bought a hand operated paper shreader from the Reject Shop. I'm so excited about it. It means I can shread all the old 'used to be important' bits of paper I have been hoarding because they have our personal details on them (Yeah I watch waaaay too much Today Tonight). It took me a couple of hours to shread a wheelie bin's worth of paper, but it is highly addictive and it doesn't run on electricity so it is good for the environment As a result of all this paper shreading, today I cleared all the couch grass from between the two vegie gardens and laid down a wheelie bin's worth of paper, covered this with raked autumn leaves and sprinkled some Spelt Wheat on it. Hopefully it will grow. About half an hour after sprinkling the seed, I was back out there tying plastic bags to the chicken wire to deter the blackbirds from eating all the grain. Like I said, hopefully it will grow!
I also sprinkled some beetroot seed in amongst the beetrrot seedlings, some pak choi seeds in amongst the pak choi seedlings and some lettuce seed under the Josterberry tree. This is seed I saved from the summer lettuces and is a mix of Mesclun Mix, Red Iceberg and Cos Verdi.
___________________________________________________________________
31st May
I dug out the couch grass from the patch infront of the roses and passionfruit. I put down a wheelie bin of shreaded paper and some autumn leaves. I sprinkled it with Oat seed and tied plastic bags all around
*Ha! beatcha to it blackbird!*
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