Off to a flying start...

Ready, set,     GO!!!
Had a great weekend in the patch with a few jobbies being knocked over...

Took out the 2 "Washing Machine" Wicking beds from the garden to make room for a few chairs & a small table.. Is nice to be able to sit in the patch with B☼ away from the spawn for a chat over a coffee on the weekend.. Well, that's the dream anyway.. I like to dream.. **nods**


 
Sick Fish & Aquaponics...
On Saturday morning the goldfish were moved  into a small "hospital tank"  then treated with a commercial anti fungal treatment...  1/3 of the water in the system was also replaced to counter the growing Ammonia levels as I didn't want to loose any Yabbies... On Sunday morning I hopped onto the BYAP Forum  & it was suggested that we salt to 10ppt for 1 hour then do a 50% water change to reduce it to a 5ppt concentration... Thanks Freoboy & all...  The fish picked up overnight & now only have a few spots of "growth" on them... Will do another 10ppt treatment today for an hour & see how they look again tomorrow... Not to keen on using the anti fungal treatment after reading the warning on the back about it containing carcinogens...

  Update shots... Left is from the 19th of July & the Right is from 10th of  August... As you can see there is a bit of growth & will continue to get better from here with Nitrates now being present in the system...The Nitrites are still fairly high but they should settle soon as they are  converted into Nitrates..

Today's readings are pH-below 8.2, Ammonia-.25, Nitrites-5+ & Nitrates are 80-160.. Added some Broccoli seed yesterday as it seems to be a plant we just cant grow enough of...
 Yabby Bum Left & Nippers, Right. They appear to be happy in there by themselves so all is good...





 Barrels of fun...

Made up 3 new Wicking Barrels on the weekend, 2 for the Mary Washington Asparagus, Left & 1 for the Jerusalem Artichokes, Right... 2 Asparagus crowns went into each Barrel while the Artichoke corms are still in the fridge for 2 more weeks...




Spuds...

Planted out the Green harvest Potato bags just over a week ago with the Dutch cream Seed Potatoes that were purchased with them.. Decided to plant out another 2 of the black bags on Saturday with some more.. We used one of the removed Washing machine beds & a ½ Barrel for some Kipfler Potatoes..The Desiree up the side of the house are looking rather good as are the 2 bags behind the Tomato Trellis...





Spice Wicking bed... 
Started to put this together on Friday afternoon & finished it off on Monday... Was a straight forward build & means that I can now get stuck into the Aquaponic set up during the afternoons this week.. This bed acts as a retaining wall for the gravel bedding... Will be letting the Spice bed settle down for a few weeks before planting out...

Compost...
Made up what I think will be a few great blends... The first lot was made on Saturday... It has Horse manure, blood 'n' bone, Mineral dust, & water from the Aquaponic set up... It was steaming when I used it in the soil blend for the Spice bed on Monday so I think it will cook down nicely thanks to the AP water & all the goodies in it... 2 bin loads were made up yesterday with a blend containing 2 shovel loads of Mushroom compost thrown in to see how it goes...


Happy harvesting...
**Does HUGE Happy Dance**
We got our first Capsicums off that didn't contain Grubs from a couple of feral plants that live in the Lime bed.. Can only put it down to the cooler weather... Will be making up some bags to cover the next crops of Capsicum with some bags that we will make up from an old Mozzie net the kids had over their cots.. That should keep the little buggers out this Spring & Summer.. Might have to make some for the Tomatoes as well for when the Turpentine Mangoes fruit.. A lot of people let them drop & rot which causes an explosion in the fruit fly numbers.. The pic also shows some of the first Amish Past Tomatoes we have harvested as well as some Caped Gooseberries & assorted Chillies..

We have also been getting some rather sweet Nantes & Dragon Carrots... Looking at pulling them all from the Bath tub bed soon & freezing them for use later as the I have plans for the Bath... The Mangles (Right) have been used in a few stews.. We are looking at freezing the rest of the large Kohlrabi for stews & casseroles.. The Broccoli is still producing but fear we have lost the climbing Beans due to my negligence & a rust.. 

Have a great one all....
: )»