Monday, August 30, 2010

Change of plans...

Had a bit of a think about the Plan we had for the garden & have decided to make a few changes....

The 2 lime trees are going to stay put for now...  On Saturday they both got a bit of TLC in the form of citrus food, a top up of a soil blend made with our own Chook compost & a good pruning... The Kaffir had some infected branches clipped off & the Tahitian bed had the Lemongrass clump removed....We will give them another season & shall see how they go....



As a result of keeping the limes where they are, we now need to find new homes for the Turmeric, Ginger & Galangal.... As these plants have nice looking foliage, we have decided to put them in barrels at the base of the back stairs or somewhere in the yard !!

Spice Bed.
As the spice plants no longer need a wicking bed their old one shall be dismantled, moved to the left 6 feet & reassembled..... I really want to get stuck into pulling this bed down just to see what sort of damage the roots from the surrounding trees have done.... It was the first Wicking bed I had built so a few mistakes were made & I was never really happy with it from the start.... The Puppy loo will have to be moved but that's easy enough....






While we were having a look at our options for moving the bed, we also came up with an idea for the Chooks yard..... We shall be leaving them with their little Mango yard & fencing off another section around to where the Galangal bed was.... These areas will be used alternately with one being planted out with green Chook food while they demolish the other.... They will only be let out in the whole yard again once all the holes they have dug for dust baths get covered with grass....

Bed #1
A few other little jobbies were done yesterday as well....  The Strawberries from Bed #1 were potted up ready to be offered to who ever wants them.... We also got a nice little Mignonette lettuce form this bed....It is sitting with its roots in a jar on the kitchen bed ready for dinner tonight.... A few couple of old Broccoli & cabbage plants that were only growing as foliage plants for the Chooks were removed, then bits of the bed were turned & then topped up with some soil/Compost mix......
Into this bed B☼ planted 3 Black Jack Zucchini's...




Pumpkin Bed
The Pumpkin Bed was finished on Saturday & planted out with 2 x Butternut seedlings & 2 lots of Golden Nugget Pumpkin Seeds....






Bed #4



Bed #4 also got a good turning & top up with some soil mix..... It was planted out with a few rows of Brown Beauty Bush Bean seeds... The Zucchini in this bed is going great guns, giving us 1 fruit every 3 or so days...




Bay, Strawberries & Napoleon's Hat..
B☼'s poor old Bay tree also got some TLC.... It was planted out into a large terracotta pot at the bottom of the stairs... Looks happier already...
I have also been informed that the area under the stairs will be getting a makeover.... Apparently, I shall be removing the paver's & Concreting the area... **Sigh** Must come up with a better idea than that to trump the B☼ me thinks....




Just an update shot from the Carrot/Lettuce bed.....
 I assure you that if you click on the image it looks a lot more impressive!! Maybe....

Nothing like hundreds of baby sprouts to bring a smile to your face... : )»

Have a great One all !!!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

We have sprouts !!!!

Was very excited to find lots of carrot shoots this morning as well as some fresh snowpea shoots...



Not the most exciting pic's I know but made me smile...

They look heaps better if you click on them....
; )»




Hopefully we will get some joy from these Snowpeas  even though it will be getting a bit warm for them soon... The seedlings we bought just don't appear to be growing that well.... These are seeds we saved from last year & know that they are great producers......

The Chooks have been restricted to their Pen & just under the Mango tree until we can repair some of the damage they have done to the lawn..

Doesn't take long for them to turn the soil & digg new holes searching for grubs & worms....


Have ½ finished the Pumpkin bed... Just need to get some soil tomorrow, mix it with out Chook compost,  add some worms then we can plant it out...


Have been a tad grumpy lately but little things like this From our Koo tend to make me smile....
Some sun for Dads Garden....

 Have a great one all....

: )»

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pumpkin Bed & other Potterings......

Had a bit of a quiet week in the garden.... Sprayed, then squished some green grubs & tried Neeming the Curl grubs.... I think we will just have to admit that we are no longer the Bush Bean experts we once thought ourselves to be... : (»
Saturday was spent doing trips to the dump with the green waste pile that has been piling up over the last few months...  Also trimmed down the fence line & the yard looks a lot more open now... Under the house will be next weekend's clean up spot hopefully... I need to claim back my work area & car park from 8 years of recycled timber, Kitchen sinks & furniture...
(I ♥ Curb side clean ups !!!)


Sunday was time to clean out the chook yard & put down some new hay..... Made up a a little makeshift screen to get any Rocks, Glass, Pottery that the Chooks have unearthed so we can add the mix to the wicking beds......
 The back of our yard was once part of the rubbish pit for the local farm house in the late 1800's to early 1900's so we have been told... The list of items found include oyster shells, marble neck bottles, tobacco tins, broken pen knives, porcelain powder jars, 2 bent up silver forks, the odd bit of AC sheeting (from when our house was built) & nearly a 10L bucket of bits of broken glass & ceramic ware...... This is the main reason we decided to bring soil in & build raised beds in the first place.....

Anyhooooo...

B☼ also planted our first Pineapple on Sunday.... My father has had great success growing them so we thought we would give them a shot.... Shall be leaving it in a pot until the rest of the back & front yards have been finished & we have somewhere to plant it & any others we get into the ground.....                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 In the Veggie Patch...



Made a small shade covering for the lettuce/carrot bed.... I recycled an old gazebo frame we kept when cover was tossed a few years ago.....



The frame was covered with 50% shade cloth & a rod was connected to the bottom of the cloth so the side flap can be raised  for easy access to the Veggies....




We have a few carrots (Purple haze & All season) & lettuce (Mixed Mignonette) that have just sprouted..... Just hoping that Needy the Chook didn't disturb them too much when we caught her in there having a quick scratch around... : (»



Speaking of Chooks.......
2 of them decided that it really wasn't that hard to fly over the fence & have a munch on some cabbage... Luckily I was in the patch & they were caught before any real damage was done.... As a result, 3 little lady's had their right wing clipped... Didn't really want to do it but it is for their own safety as well as we live on a main access road to Ipswich CBD....

                                  Decided to revamp the fence beside the walkway to the ChookYard....

Also put in a proper gate from the end of the walkway into the garden....
It makes access into the  bottom of the garden a lot easier....





Made a start on the Pumpkin Wicking bed on Sunday afternoon & shall try & have it finished by next weekend, weather permitting, so we can get a couple of Jap & Butternuts in this week....

It is behind the Tomato bed at the bottom of the garden so should get ample shade in the afternoon from the hot Summer sun...





We have had success at last with Zucchinis !!!! WOO HOO !!!!
 
  We lost all of last years to Powdery mildew...I think they just weren't getting enough water from the Wetpots after the roots from the Elms invaded the beds & that compromised their vigour....Have also planted a couple more around the garden in hope that they will produce before summer hits them too hard....
Also have the weekly update picture from the Cabbage/broccoli bed...
                                                                               
22nd Of August
15th Of August 
Beans still look sad & yellow... Shall be looking into what it may be today..

We are getting an idea of what seeds we will be planting & where now that the beds are nearly all up & going... Shall post on that later....
Have a great one all......

: )»


Sunday, August 15, 2010

& the fun Begins...

We had a great weekend in the garden with heaps of progress made.... The Chook fencing is back up & all beds a secure.....We hope.....
Today we finished renovating the old tomato bed & planted it out....

Trellis & Weed mat... 
Liner, Agg pipe & Sand added...









Sugar Cane Mulch added....

Adding the last of the soil mix....










All Done....
 The bed was filled with a Soil mix made from Searls "5 in 1" fertiliser, scrapings from the chook yard & Recycled soil from this & other beds.....
4 Mini Roma Tomatoes were plated along with some Sage & Californian Capsicums.... All seedlings were planted on a small handful of worm castings.....
The bed in the  foreground has  2 Thai eggplants (that we have transplanted & are hoping survive), the last of the Broccoli, some Honey pod peas & a Zucchini.....

 The other bed that got some attention was the old Sweet potato bed....

New Carrot & Lettuce Bed...
 We added some "5 in1" & topped up the bed with some soil mix to get it ready....
We planted some beetroot & Mixed Minuette Lettuce seedlings.... Some Mixed Minuette & Iceberg Lettuce seeds were planted to help stagger the harvest times....
Up the other end of the bed we planted 2 rows each of Chantenay Red Cored & Purple Haze Carrots...
To stop the Bird scratching around in the beds & digging up the seeds we made a make shift shade cover to protect them....

 B also planted some more Snow peas as the seedlings we planted just don't appear to be doing much...

Cabbage & Broccoli Bed with Maya's Chinese cabbage & the Rainbow Silverbeet in the foreground..
The Beans have yet again disappointed us but we have a feeling that they & the Snow peas are under attack form bellow by some of these Guys......
Evil, EVIL Curl Grub of DOOM !!!!!!!!!

We have dug out about 20 or so of these fellas over the last few days from the Soil mix we had waiting to be used..... They ranged in size from about 1.5 cm to the big fellas that are about 7-8.5cm long.... The Chooks are loving them & Bunny dog is enjoying the odd ½ one she finds in the pile... : )»
 I am going to try & use some Neem based products to saturate the area around the plants to try & get rid of the pesky Buggers....

Here are some other shots of the garden as it stands Today....
Kira's Wicking Strawberry Barrel....




Have a great one all.....
: )»

Thursday, August 12, 2010

IT'S GONE !!!!!!!

WOO HOO !!!!!!
The Mango has gone !!!




Before...

After...
 So happy that it has been "trimmed" to a manageable height.... Might even be able to control the fruit fly & other pests that arrive every Summer with the excess fruit.....
By the end of Summer there should be enough regrowth so that the Chooks shed should get some shade....

We also had a Pine tree removed to make way for some fruit trees in the front yard & a few limbs of a Callistemon removed from hanging over the house... Sister & BIL have scored some firewood as well.....
**Does a little happy dance**


Have a great one all !!!!! 

: )»




Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Puppy Loo.....

Thought I would do a quick blog to show how our Dog, Bunny, helps around the garden...

Happy Bunny !!!!
Not only does she scare the birds & cats from digging in the garden, she also helps by fertilising our poor old Lemon tree.... We planted the tree when we first moved in about 8 years ago & only got 2 lemons in the first year & then nothing until now...
About February last year, when we made a start on the veggie patch, we got sick of throwing out all the valuable unprocessed plant food Bunny was creating so decided to Make a Puppy loo like the ones we had read about in Grass Roots magazines...

Puppy Loo !!!
All that is needed is..
old bucket with tight fitting lid
Saw
Shovel
At least 1 well fed Dog.....
  • Cut the bottom off of the bucket just above the base using a Hacksaw
  • Dig a hole deeper than the bucket by ½.. It helps if you can taper the hole in towards the base to stop the bucket from slipping below ground level...
  • Push the bucket into the hole & fill in around the side of bucket...

We introduced a good handful of composting worms about 6 months ago & have noticed that the Bucket was taking ages to fill.... We can only put this down to the worms & other ground dwelling critters eating the waste & turning it into food for the nearby Lemon tree....
 This Pic was taken on the weekend.... Not many flowers left after Last nights rain... :)
We have picked a few lemons already & have over a Dozen left that are slowly ripening.... To top it off, the tree is full of blossoms & next seasons crop.... The only thing we have done differently is adding the Puppy Loo just under the drip line of the tree.....
HTH someone out there....
Have a good One all....

Hopefully Friday...

The mango has been booked in to get a radical Haircut on Thursday/Friday... Not to certain if that will happen due to the rain we have had the last few days....

The Old Ginger bed has been dismantled & is ready to be installed as the new Pumpkin bed at the back of the chook shed.... Still need to pull down some of the shade house frame that may get in the way...

We got the Agg pipe for the last few beds & shall start them on Friday/weekend..... Will be needing a bit more Sand for the base & shall hopefully get that on Saturday...

Have a great one all.....

Saturday, August 7, 2010

List of jobbies....

List of jobs to be finished before Spring....
  1. Clean out roots from Old Sweet potato Bed.... Done...7/8/10....
  2. Finish Bed under construction...   Done ....15/8/10....
  3. Make more Worm feeders...
  4. Move Pumpkin bed into position & Wick...
  5. Transplant Kaffir Lime & Bay trees into Pots....
  6. Build new Galangal, Turmeric & lemon grass beds....
  7. Give Bowen Mango A haircut.... Done....12/8/10
  8. Renovate & Wick Herb bed...
  9. Dismantle Old Spice bed & use it to renovate Last timber bed...
  10. Extend "Shade house" frame... Done....22/8/10... Built mini shade house for lettuce & carrot bed....
  11. Replant Sweet potato bed with lettuce & carrots...  Done ....15/8/10....
  12. Redesign garden fencing & repair holes excavated by Chookens.....
There are probably heaps more jobbies to be done & shall add to the list as they pop up....

Have a great one all...
: )»

Friday, August 6, 2010

Photos of the mess......

View from the house.....
Wicking bed under construction, Lemon tree to the left....
The Old timber bed (3rd from bottom of the picture) is being used as storage at the moment for all the beds being moved or renovated....
Herb bed in foreground...
The herb bed is to be dug up & renovated to become a Wicking bed with 4 reservoirs due to the gradient of the slope....
The old sweet potato bed in the foreground is having a few minor repairs carried out & shall be planted out with Carrots & Cucumbers..... Maybe... I think.....

Galangal & Turmeric bed that is being pulled down & it's tin used to replace the old Timber bed....


Latest Wicking bed... Bed #2....

Our garden is going through a bit of a transformation at the moment so shall just put up the plans & a few pictures of the last Wicking Bed The Girls & I constructed....


Latest Wicking Bed...
This is a bed that the Girls & I converted into a Wicking bed... What they learnt was used to help them design & make one each for themselves as a school project...

Left : The bed was dug out to a level of 480mm....
Right : Drainage Assembly made from Shade cloth, zip tie, 13mm irrigation pipe & 13mm joiner    




Left : Weed mat was placed at the bottom to of the bed to stop invading roots & to help protect the plastic liner from punctures...
Right : Plastic liner is added & held to sides with Tape...


A 16mm hole was Drilled 11-14cm up from the internal ground level of the bed....This hole is the cleaned of any sharp edges to prevent tears in the plastic liner.... A hole is made in the plastic & the grommet was pushed through liner & tin... The Pipe is then pushed through Grommet... Extra slashes were made in the plastic 5cm above the pipe level so any extra water from heavy downpours can escape & not turn the bed into a quagmire...
The slotted Agg pipe is laid out & the filling end is Zip tied to the end of the bed...                            The end of the Agg pipe had weed mat zip tied into place to stop any sand clogging up the pipe...
The Agg pipe is covered with Weed Mat & covered with Bedding sand... Enough sand was added so as to cover the drainage pipe by 3-4 cm...
Sugar Cane mulch was added to help the "wicking" of the water into the soil mix..  A Soil mixed with "5 in 1" fertiliser, straw from the chook pen & a few worm castings was added by a Hairy Helper...

The bed was then filled until water ran from the drainage hole at the other end of the bed...We have found that filling the beds with a low water pressure allows the water to penetrate through all the sand....
Worm Feeders....   

The worm feeders were made from 250mm lengths of 90mm downpipe that had a series of 32mm holes drilled into them & an end cap is used as a lid when installed......
They were pushed into the bed with about 30mm of pipe exposed & a scoop of worms from the worm farm were added....We wizz all our kitchen & some garden scraps into a watery paste & feed this to the worms..We find they eat it quicker & as a result, they multiply faster...             ; )»
 The finished Wicking bed with Feeding stations.....

Left : We planted this bed out with Snow peas, Sugarloaf Cabbage, Broccoli & bush beans On the 20th of July....                              Right :  Today, 06-08-10.... Not much growth visible in the picture but it's getting there....

All these ideas have been picked up From Simple Savers through a few gardening threads & the links they contain...
http://www.simplesavings.com.au/
2 sites that have inspired me the most are....

http://www.easygrowvegetables.com/
&
http://outbackharvest.blogspot.com/2008/09/wicking-worm-beds.html
Have a great one all.....
: )»