Jan 2008
Acid mulch and compost
27 January 2008 20:12 Filed in: Doing
The acid bed (blueberries, Japanese iris and rhubarb)
is causing a lot of thought at the moment. The plants
not only want acid soil, but also want lots of
moisture; so I need acid mulch. Coffee grounds would
be perfect, but my easy supply is no longer easy, so
I'm searching for other options.
A week or two ago someone posted on the local freecycle with coffee husks looking for a good home, which sounded perfect except... (Why is there always an "except"? :) ... coffee husks are way to light to mulch with. I tried to work out how to make it work, but I've given up and they're going straight through the compost and I need a new acid mulch plan.
The comic relief of the coffee husk compost has been totally worth it. They're incredibly bulky and light, so I carried a huge black rubbish bag over my shoulder on the bus and through town. They overflowed the compost bin until thoroughly soaked, and looked like fibreglass once wet. They will hopefully fill the gap in my composting once I leave my current job and the leftover fruit bits that come along with it.
In other news two of my chooks have big butts, another sign that they'll be laying soon. All very exciting.
A week or two ago someone posted on the local freecycle with coffee husks looking for a good home, which sounded perfect except... (Why is there always an "except"? :) ... coffee husks are way to light to mulch with. I tried to work out how to make it work, but I've given up and they're going straight through the compost and I need a new acid mulch plan.
The comic relief of the coffee husk compost has been totally worth it. They're incredibly bulky and light, so I carried a huge black rubbish bag over my shoulder on the bus and through town. They overflowed the compost bin until thoroughly soaked, and looked like fibreglass once wet. They will hopefully fill the gap in my composting once I leave my current job and the leftover fruit bits that come along with it.
In other news two of my chooks have big butts, another sign that they'll be laying soon. All very exciting.
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Lots of little things
20 January 2008 20:26 Filed in: Doing
There are baby fish in the pond and legs on the
tadpoles! It feels strangely springlike for
midsummer.
The big task for the weekend was reorganising the compost; using the last of one pile and turning the other. The compost got used on the main group of tomatoes, which have baby tomatoes showing; on the gooseberries, which did well this year and deserve encouragement; and on the lemon tree which produced a nice crop of lemons and needed a feed.
I took advantage of the compost around the tomatoes to express optimism by planting some vines at the feet of the tomatoes:
The same need to squeeze things in lead to me fitting some more lettuces in around the sweetcorn (which is still not thriving) and some more basil in amongst the rest.
Sadly I'll need to replant the fennel seeds from last week as the chooks took advantage of the compost rearrangement to get into the vege garden briefly and scratched up the baby plants. Otherwise not too much damage I think, surprising as they had access to silverbeet.
The big task for the weekend was reorganising the compost; using the last of one pile and turning the other. The compost got used on the main group of tomatoes, which have baby tomatoes showing; on the gooseberries, which did well this year and deserve encouragement; and on the lemon tree which produced a nice crop of lemons and needed a feed.
I took advantage of the compost around the tomatoes to express optimism by planting some vines at the feet of the tomatoes:
- Melon 'Tigger Moon'
- Buttercup squash
- Apple cucumber
The same need to squeeze things in lead to me fitting some more lettuces in around the sweetcorn (which is still not thriving) and some more basil in amongst the rest.
Sadly I'll need to replant the fennel seeds from last week as the chooks took advantage of the compost rearrangement to get into the vege garden briefly and scratched up the baby plants. Otherwise not too much damage I think, surprising as they had access to silverbeet.
The vege garden is chocka again
13 January 2008 13:55 Filed in: Planting
Once again my weekend vege gardening effort has been
finishing a harvest and squeezing something else in.
I don't know how people manage proper crop rotation, I'm forever squeezing something into the gap left when I harvest something else, so big planning just doesn't seem to happen. I do try to rotate in a general way, so the dwarf beans went where there had been brassicas, the potatoes went where the broad beans were, the next crop of broad beans will go where there are currently alliums.
I have given up on the original place I put the sweetcorn, so I've moved it into the main vege garden, half replaces the end of the last crop of silver beet, half is in the next section squeezed in between lettuces than only have a fortnight or so to live. The new crop of silverbeet is now harvestable, although the ones the chooks got at are probably a week away, so the very end of the previous crop is in the kitchen waiting to be made into quiche.
I also harvested the garlic, washed it (using the washing water on the pear tree) and started it drying. It's been replaced with four more lots of florence fennel seeds (the previous planting is doing well).
The plantings of bush beans are now flowering, so beans shouldn't be far away either.
I'm still not sure how heavily I should be fertilising the vege garden. As the soil is new and good I didn't fertilise the first crops, and now I'm just adding a couple of centimetres of compost each time I replant. I use a seaweed foliar feed once a fortnight or so, but nothing else. I don't know if I should be adding something like blood-and-bone, but at the moment everything's doing ok.
I don't know how people manage proper crop rotation, I'm forever squeezing something into the gap left when I harvest something else, so big planning just doesn't seem to happen. I do try to rotate in a general way, so the dwarf beans went where there had been brassicas, the potatoes went where the broad beans were, the next crop of broad beans will go where there are currently alliums.
I have given up on the original place I put the sweetcorn, so I've moved it into the main vege garden, half replaces the end of the last crop of silver beet, half is in the next section squeezed in between lettuces than only have a fortnight or so to live. The new crop of silverbeet is now harvestable, although the ones the chooks got at are probably a week away, so the very end of the previous crop is in the kitchen waiting to be made into quiche.
I also harvested the garlic, washed it (using the washing water on the pear tree) and started it drying. It's been replaced with four more lots of florence fennel seeds (the previous planting is doing well).
The plantings of bush beans are now flowering, so beans shouldn't be far away either.
I'm still not sure how heavily I should be fertilising the vege garden. As the soil is new and good I didn't fertilise the first crops, and now I'm just adding a couple of centimetres of compost each time I replant. I use a seaweed foliar feed once a fortnight or so, but nothing else. I don't know if I should be adding something like blood-and-bone, but at the moment everything's doing ok.
Photos from a windy summer day
12 January 2008 12:17 Filed in: Pictures
This time with pictures
09 January 2008 19:33 Filed in: Pictures
Sprouting seeds in rainwater
08 January 2008 21:37 Filed in: Doing
If it wasn't raining so hard I would take photos of
all the beautiful seedlings pushing their heads above
the soil. Although if it wasn't raining so hard
perhaps they wouldn't be growing so well.
After a few days away I came home to bush beans unfurling, little groups of kohlrabi (so obviously brassicas) and cilantro and dill (already feathery). The beetroot need thinning once I can get outside again, and the last few peas that haven't caught hold of the netting will need propping up against the wind.
Oh, and I have one meal of black currants and one meal of gooseberries left to be picked.
The garden is a constant joy at this time of year, every day there is change and growth. Each meal can have something fresh in it – particularly if it's silverbeet! :)
After a few days away I came home to bush beans unfurling, little groups of kohlrabi (so obviously brassicas) and cilantro and dill (already feathery). The beetroot need thinning once I can get outside again, and the last few peas that haven't caught hold of the netting will need propping up against the wind.
Oh, and I have one meal of black currants and one meal of gooseberries left to be picked.
The garden is a constant joy at this time of year, every day there is change and growth. Each meal can have something fresh in it – particularly if it's silverbeet! :)