May 15 Garden Update

There are a few things to mention at the moment that I wish to record on the blog here. About a week and a half ago we had a Saffron crocus flowering in the frangipani pot. None of the others have flowered since and are still growing leaves.

About a week ago we had blue wrens in winter plumage visit the garden and today what looked like an immature Golden Whistler. First time records for the property since we moved here for both of these species. Today the garden was full of silver eyes fetching green caterpillars from the plants.

Our chook, Clarice, one of the little bantams has not been well with nasty growths over much of her exposed skin areas. She was quarantined and her diet watched closely. She is now coming along really well and looking healthy.

The rain has come, along with hail last Sunday. For about the last week there has been decent showers which has soaked the garden.

For about the last two weeks we have had one of my friends boar guinea pigs running with Helmi and Tuulia. Maiki and Jazz have remained in the little pen on the deck. Jules the guinea pig will be returned shortly.

There are still a few leaves on the apricot tree and the tamarillo have been laden with brilliant reddish fruit that contrast with the winter green on the garden. I have been eating the tamarillo's fresh from the garden as I have been eating a raw diet for the last week or so. This has had me thinking of the impact that such a diet has. So far I have been allowing my body to make the change. As each day passes I am feeling better and better and clearer in my mind. Lighter in my body. I imagine I will post more on this at a later date as it has the potential to really impact the types of plants I grow in the garden.

The chokos have been going strong for about the last month. I have given many away and pickled some for storing in the fridge short term. I like the choko vine. It is such an abundant, luxurious plant.

The garden is coming along well with the broad beans about 60 cm tall and peas flowering and fruiting. The salad greens are going really well which has enabled me to easily maintain a diet of large, varied salads and green smoothies.

The beetroot in the tubs are coming along well. About golf ball size at the moment.

Some tomato seeds have self sown and are already 30 cms high. Other tomato plants that have been sheltered by the sugar cane are still growing and producing fruit from summer. The back bed is soaked through and the compost bins are going well. The soil is full of earthworm activity.

New Blog - Shaun's Backyard

Today I viewed the Shaun's Backyard site. Looks like a lot of work has been going on there. Glad to see another backyarder has joined the ranks of spreading the word. It will be interesting to see how this site develops. 

It's worth checking it out.

All the best Shaun. I look forward to seeing how it evolves.

Autumn Update - MARCH

Summer has been and gone. That is what you get for having a New Year baby I guess. Time went "Whoooosh!"

So there have been changes to the garden gradually over that time and I have not recorded many of them until now.

The Chicken Coop got a work over. New door, new roosts, new straw, new shiny black plastic to cover it up so Stella doesn't crow so much in the mornings. Naughty chook.

The Passion fruit delivered a lovely harvest and one of the trellis poles broke so the passion fruit was taken away and put into compost and another support put up, the ropes tightened and the new plant in waiting - a Panama Gold Passion fruit - was planted. It's taken off already. In the bed underneath I have planted a garlic crop and some radish seeds.

I have shifted all the fruit trees to transform the centre of the garden into a collective of tubs which I am growing salad greens and peas and herbs to make the most of the space. This way I am hoping to be able to plan ahead a little easier and at least get some things growing. With being preoccupied around Christmas and New Year and with our new little son there has been a huge gap in our harvesting due to not having planted seeds. A lesson learned. Make it easier. Having said that, it will hopefully be easier now that the main back bed is coming along.

The Aquaponics system had a few moments of neglect but is now working well and despite the drab appearance of many of the plants through neglect it is starting to lift it's game. I plan to plant lettuce and winter crops in it soon. I will need more fish however to keep the nutrient levels humming away.

Pond - the watercress got a little burnt on top and flowered and seeded. I have ripped most of this off and within days there is always fresh, new, green growth. Amazing.

Side gardens - the raspberries almost look dead after the last lot of dry, windy days. With the latest rains I think they will be fine for a bumper harvest in the coming fruiting season. The other two side gardens were abandoned over summer to minimise watering and because soil was being lifted from them for the compost bins.

Deck - there is a bit more room on the deck now. I have moved most of the smaller pots into the garden now that there is rain on the way. The choko (chayote) has two good sized fruit on it and many, many more forming with the on-set of the rains which arrived yesterday morning. We have still had some pretty wild winds though. The summer easterlies have been particularly harsh on the choko vine this year and I am planning to move it to the opposite fence for next spring. ( I just picked our first choko tonight.)

Tropical Garden hot spot - this was one of the first projects in summer. I re-potted many of my exotic plants such as babaco, pitaya (dragon fruit), mountain paw paw, lemon grass, curry plant. They are all doing well. One of the babaco has maturing fruit on it and smaller developing fruit higher up its trunk. The other finished fruiting from fruit set last March and now has new fruit forming on it also.

New pets. I have acquired some water kefir finally and am enjoying that, along with a kombucha culture also. They are a little extra work but add a bit of variety and flavour to our diet as we otherwise really only consume water and teas

Yesterday with the drizzle I decided it was time to plant the broad beans. I planted two patches. One of Aquadulce from last years seeds and a crop on top of the compost heap that is in the back garden also. These seeds are from pods left on the ground over summer at the community garden. They dried out, some got attacked by snails and the like, but with the recent moisture in the air (even before the rain) they were swelling up and retaining moisture. So they are really an experimental crop as they are more like a fava bean, whereas my own broad bean seeds are quite flat and large and paler in colour. I figured that if they were going to sprout soon just lying there as they were that it would be about right to plant my crop also.

Several weeks back I planted seeds of spinach, beetroot, arugula, radish, broccoli and cauliflower. These are now all up and the spinach and beetroot were quite well advanced and healthy so I transplanted some of them today into other areas of the garden. I have really sown lots of spinach and lettuce seeds as I want to be able to feed much more fresh greens to our chooks. More than they are getting at the moment. I am after an abundance of greens so they never have 'dry spells'.

The tub gardens that I have set up are basically worm farms. I have various materials in them. Straight sand from the garden and under the house, some soil amendment products, rock dust, kitchen scraps, old potting mix - that sort of stuff. The idea being that over the time they will break down and the plants can use some of the nutrients whilst the worms break down the rest which can ultimately be put into the back garden bed to enrich the humus there.

Our guinea pig family is doing well. The little male boar that we had has gone to a friends farm to join some recently acquired male guinea pigs which are much older. The idea is that we can then keep sexes separate but can choose which pigs we wish to breed from. The two newest guinea pigs, Mother and daughter are much more inquisitive than Maiki and Jazz. They have taught them to explore further afield and try new greens. So their territory has opened up quite a bit now. The little one even ventures into the chook pen to get some food!

Another Garden Visitor

This article from the Herald Sun was posted today.

It describes how the coming burden to be placed on arable land will come from increased livestock farming and the farming of crops to be used as bio-fuels. This is perceived to begin placing a huge impact of meeting the food needs of Australians.

These are only two pressures amongst what I see as a whole gambit of pressures that will inevitably put a burden on how our food is produced, how much, how far it will travel and what it will cost. I can tell you now for free - what nutritional value it has is not likely to even enter the equation.

There are some nice suggestions at the beginning of the article such as using your kitchen scraps to make compost and raising chickens for eggs or growing herbs in pots.

My suggestion is begin TODAY. For a society that is not used to creating its own food there is a steep learning curve for many people. I will not deny that even a couple of pots of herbs won't make an impact - but wouldn't you rather supply most of your needs?

Again, it comes back to an earlier post I did regarding an overhaul of our diets and our real food requirements. We have challenges ahead, but I see them as being the beginnings of vast improvements in our lives and the world if we stop looking at them as impending catastrophes. Yes, articles like this help to show that change is on its way. What are YOU going to do about it?