Sunday Oct 31st

The new Elberta Peach tree

Cucumber seedling side of gate bed

Cucumber seedling front of gate bed

Plenty of new growth in veggie beds

 During the last two weeks we have had 64 ml of rain.  This is reflected in the lush grow in the garden.  The beans in the toilet rolls had been a success with those doing much better than beans that were directly sown unprotected in the ground.  I have extended this idea to a cucumber seedling I have sown in the strawberry bed.  I have put six new cucumber seedlings in as it had become evident the two plants I thought were cucumbers grown from seed, were in fact zucchinis.  The new seedlings are purchased lebanese.  A new peach tree went in today.  It was half price in desperate and dateless at Mitre 10.  It has some curly leaf, but is taller than me.  It may fruit next year if it takes.  The Freckle lettuce had grown well over the last two weeks.  I could start picking some now.  The coriander has been a success and we have been eating that. (yum)  The collards have done well under the curtain.  I have removed the curtain today and will now start feeding leaves to the chokes.  The babies are growing and I have several roosters to home.  The from garden is doing well with many plants in flower.  The wallaby grass has seed heads.  The kangaroo paws are flowering.  I bought another fejoa today to plant in the front yard.  The existing one needs a mate to fruit.  The one around the back doesn't flower.  The rain is making a huge difference this year.  We have been eating snow peas, silver beet, asparagus and herbs from the garden.  The zucchinis are flowering.  Penne gave me some egg plant seedlings today which I have squeezed in around the veggie beds.

Cucumber seedling and beans.  Raspberries spilling over

The freckle lettuce in the styrene box has taken off

Bean growing out of toilet rolls

Benas and freckle lettuce

Front yard

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Water iris

OEG and chicks

The babies

Babies

Babies

Down the back

Sunday Oct 17th

I planted out some little Siberian tomato seedlings I grew from seed.  They are very small but did not seem to be developing very quickly in the pots.  There are two in the gate bed and one near the grape vine.  We had 30 ml of rain this week.  The little cos lettuce seeds I planted last week have sprouted, as have the beetroot seeds.

Sunday Oct 10th

The cabbage moths have arrived.

Mixed basil

The main bed with large stakes for tomatoes.

The very first cherry blossom flowers.  The weren't there yesterday.

Time to potter today.  Sown Mr Fothergill's Cos lettuce in the old cos lettuce wicking box and in a new styrene box (not wicking).  Planted corriander seedlings in maple pot and in pot near corner fish pond.  Also planted sweet basil seedlings in a freckle lettuce wicking box, in the main garden bed near the squash and in the Greek basil pot near the gate..  Also planted basil mix seedlings in strawberry bed with earwig baits, snail bait and a cage over the top.  Wouldn't you know it;  the day after you take the protective wire cage off the collards etc because they have out grown it,  the cabbage moths turn up.  Time to make a curtain protection tunnel.

Sat 9th Oct

Nashi blossom

freckle lettuce

four week old babies in green house

Miss oeg and belgian babies

Two week old box babies.

Beans in toilet rolls in main bed

The orchid

All the chook sheds, pens and boxes were cleaned today. The first hatch brown shed babies had their first day out in the green shed run.  After their initial hesitation they loved the grass and chasing bugs.  I added a barrow load of compost to the raspberry beds and some pots/boxes today.  The OEG hen hatched three belgian babies on Wed 6th Oct.  Another one hatched in the incubator and was successfully placed under the hen.  The babies in the box are oeg and belgian blue 2 weeks old.  We had 30 ml of rain this week. The vegies have grown well with the rain.

Weekend planting

On the weekend I planted out cherry tomato seedlings.  These are in the wicking bed and in the raspberry bed.  I also planted out my beans in toilet rolls.  Some were already sprouted, others had root growth.  Time will tell if this method of seed raising helps stops the predators including the earwigs.  I lost all my bean seedlings to bugs last year.

Collards, Freckles lettuce, butter bean Cheroke Wax, Tommy Toe tomato, Blue Lake green beans all from Phoenix Seeds, were planted out.   Red Russian kale (Pam), comfrey from Green Harvest were planted out.  Ginger from green harvest was planted.  Siberian Tomatoe seedlings New Gippsland Seeds were potted on.  The lettuce was planted in wicking boxes and squeezed in around the two garden beds.  The bean seedlings were planted int the strawberry bed and at the base of a tipi in the big vegie bed.  Butter bean seeds were also planted at the back of the  big bed.  Some beetroot seeds were planted along the edge of the wicking bed near the gate.

The first wicking bed.

Add growing medium

Add rock

Line with plastic and add hose

Make sure the bed is even.

This bed was created about two years ago.  I have been very happy with it.  It is topped up with compost, shavings from the chook sheds and sheep manure.  I mulch with sugar cane mulch in Summer.  I find it only requires watering once a week.  The mulch prevents evaporation.  This bed has been one of the great successes in  my garden.