Trying to work out today what plants are worth saving, pulling or just harvesting early... Due to the soil in some beds being so degraded we will be rehabilitating them by removing some soil then replacing it with the composted horse manure/worm casting blend from Wormtec... We are expecting delivery in the next few weeks along with a Brix meter to monitor plant health...
Bed #1... The Purple cabbages will all be coming out this week to be turned into Coleslaw, rice paper wraps or stir fry... We did loose 3 during the week due to each of them being attacked by dozens of "silk" producing grubs... Such is... This bed will be totally stripped except for the Leeks, Shallots, Sage & a Kent Pumpkin at the far end... The bed will then be turned trough with fertiliser, cracker dust & compost blend then left until we organise some plants for it...
Bed #2... Above are some shots of the "Rainbow" Chard we harvested the seed from this afternoon... The seed in the bucket will be sown into a fenced off section of the Chooks yard as fodder & the seed in the paper bag is for sharing & our ownn use...
The Monster Pumpkin had one last big prune of the long leaders today to see if the smaller new ones will produce some female flowers that will hold onto the fertilised fruits... The Celery is getting the benefit of the doubt at the moment as is the Banana Chilli in this bed... We have/will be feeding them with Worm wee/Seasol along with some 5 in 1 fertiliser blended with Cracker dust & worm castings dug in to the soil in the gaps between plants... This bed will be reconditioned after the Celery has been harvested & a decision made on the Pumpkins...
The 2 Square beds at the end of Bed #2 will have some Compost blend dug through it but am unsure of what will be going in there as of yet...Have been thinking about adding the Cape Gooseberries but shall just wait & see...
Bed #3... The beans are still producing a few here & there but have lost their dark green colouring so I fear it is time to dig them through the bed...The Beetroot shall be removed & turned into a salad during the week... This bed will then have some soil removed & have some of the purchased compost blend as well as other fertilises added... The Eggplants at the end of the bed shall be left as they are producing more than we need in the soil as it is now...
Bed #4... One of the the Eggplants from this bed has been removed due to the others that are producing elsewhere... The Cape Gooseberries are starting to pick up but are still being munched on buy the bugs so they got a Neeming this afternoon...... The soil around the plants in this bed will have some fertiliser & compost added... Asian greens & other quick leafy crops will be planted in here where space permits...
Bed #5... This bed had Dragon carrots including one that was going to seed... Unfortunately it got pulled accidentally as we were harvesting the other carrots & preparing the soil... We added 2/3 of a bag of 5 in 1, 1L of Cracker dust & 2cups of blood 'n' bone then dug it through the bed... 8 Bush Beans & a Thai Basil were planted on top of about 1½ cup of Worm castings... They are sharing the bed with 2 or 3 different types of feral chillies, a Purple Basil, & some Sweet potato's that have decided to re-establish themselves in the bed... Bed #6... This bed we are still quite happy with... The carrots are forming nicely but wont be ready for a few more weeks & the Spring Onion thinnings are being used on a weekly basis... This bed is getting a regular feeding with Worm wee/Seasol ...
Bed #7... The Cucumber bed is going to be striped of plants & some of the soil removed so some compost, chook straw & 5 in 1 fertiliser can be added over the following weeks... I think it will be turned into the Snow pea bed with some Broccoli planted at the front...
Bed #8... (formally the Tomato bed) This bed is being left as is for the time being... Some Burpless Cucumber seedlings were planted along the trellis last weekend... They were planted into soil that had a good amount of 5 in1 dug through it.. A large handful of fresh Worm castings was placed at the base of the plants to help them settle in... This bed also contains some feral Ginger, 6 Capsicums, Sage, feral Sweet basil's & a few Orange Chillies... All but the Cucumbers & feral Ginger may get pulled yet so we can dig through a good amount of the Compost blend then plant out...Bed #9... (The small Pumpkin bed behind Lemon Tree) This garden has soil like Concrete !!! I only mixed 5 in 1 with the "premium" soil blend we bought when this bed was first filled... It does have a feral Eggplant growing but I am willing to sacrifice that & re do the soil in the bed so we can plant some Lemon Grass... I am also thinking about a Zucchinis in here as well but not certain about that yet...
The Spice barrels appear to be going alright even though the soil is rather compacted... New "sets" are popping up... I have been breaking up the surface soil every few weeks & adding liquid fertilisers...
The original Strawberry barrel that Koo planted has been mined out by ants... It needs to be dug up, plants relocated & the barrel recycled... I am considering resurrecting some old hydroponic grow tubes then planting out the berries around the back stairs so they can be watered & tended daily... The new Strawberry barrel is doing ok... The Pink Strawberry is throwing heaps of runners so we will be sharing some with other family members once they have their gardens up & running...
The 2 Cape Gooseberry barrels were not doing well at all until Worm wee/Seasol was added on a regular basis... They are filled with the "dodgy" Nursery mix so they may end up planted in the 2 Square beds at the end of Bed #2 yet...
Horse Manure Compost...
This morning I made up a Compost blend using some pony poo, blood 'n' bone & Cracker dust... 2 drums were made up... 1 has roughly 40L of pony poo, 2 cups each of blood 'n' bone & Cracker dust with the other drum having 4 cups of blood 'n' bone & cracker dust... The ingredients were mixed well in the drums with some water then rolled around the back yard... They have been left in an up right position in an area of the yard that gets sun until 2pm... They shall get a mix with the garden fork & a roll around the yard every few days to help aerate the blend...Compost tea...
I shall be looking into making some Compost tea but will get into that in another post once I have worked out how to rig up a system as I'm am going a "little bit fancy" with its construction... The aim is to brew a tea that will be teaming with bacterial life so it can be added to the garden to help unlock nutrients in the soil for the plants... I am wanting to do a bit more research before I start & am hoping to incorporate it with Moo's science unit...
Crocuses...
Here are the Crocuses from the Front yard... They have all bloomed now & shall probably die back by tomorrow night but we shall enjoy them while they are here...The Pumpkin growing from the lawn clippings in the front yard is a mystery yet we are hopeful they will do better than the plants out the back...
Have a great one all...
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