Bits out the Back: Pumpkin Bed & other Potterings......

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....