Sunday, September 01, 2013

Garden Share Collective - September

 

It is that time of month again, when gardeners across the country, and across the world, report on their activities, as part of the Garden Share Collective. This is kindly hosted by Liz at Strayed from the Table. 

You can see my post from last month HERE.

So, how was the month? The weather was awful, with the usual spring winds and rain (we could do with a little less, please). The days I did have available for gardening were not conducive to the activity - but at least the days are getting longer, so there is hope for the evenings.


My one achievement for the month in the veggie garden is that the green manure crop is dug in, along with a lot of other stuff like sheep manure. This is it above, part way through the process. In this photo, it is all pulled, and some has been dug into any other available space in the other two beds.

(One thing that railroaded us during the month can be seen, but will not be apparent to others, on the left. It is our largest. and oldest, Grevillea, lying dead on the ground after the worst wind. When it went through the mulcher, it did not even fill a large garden bag.)




Meanwhile, that bed is now finished, and cooking. Now have the sugarcane mulch on the second half - we ran out. It is under bird netting, as those little fiends are circling, wanting to dig out all the worms.

 So, here is the formal bit:

What am I planting?

Nuffin. Hanging out for beans. Any beans. Especially climbing beans.

What am I harvesting?

Still only the carrots. there are the tiniest little beans on the broad beans though.

What have I done for the past month?

Only the green mulching, and keeping my ornamental pot plants alive.

What are my plans for the next month?

Everything! The tomato seedlings are in the shops. but it is waaaay too early for us yet. Time to get some lettuce in - there is a bit of green manure in one barrel,  breaking down. That is the one with the logs on top - did I mention the birds?



Random thoughts:

I was in my last garden for 28 years, and it had the most beautiful rich, orange, clay loam. Here I am gardening on hungry black sand - I would do anything to have my loam back, but I am pumping organic matter into the soil to try to make up for it.

Worms are another weapon in my armoury - I have a breed of red, tigers and garden worms - I think. I have carried them around for years, and pull handfulls out at the drop of a hat to start people off - or repopulate bins where they have inexplicably died. Sometimes they remind me of a ginger beer plant, the way they get spread around.



Apart from three big Gedye-type bins, I use this Reln bin that I don't think is available any more. Although there is a similar round one.  I just keep whacking the bottom layer in the veggie garden, and harvesting the liquid and watering it around, very, very diluted. Got rid of the tap out of it fairly quickly, as it kept blocking. I used it a bit strong a few years ago, and it looked like weedicide damage.

Roll on Spring!


5 Comments:

Blogger Linda said...

Wow! Sounds like you have worm farms down pat! We have a homemade one and we're very new to it so I'm still trying to work it all out. Our council are offering half price farms at the moment and I'm very tempted but I feel like I'm wasting resources and creating wasted plastic. I'll have to weigh it up.

8:20 AM  
Blogger Linda said...

Hello Linda (from another Linda),

Thank you for calling by!

I am okay with plastic in this context, as it is over 20 years old and still going. I just don't like it when you buy it to throw away, when it is so unnecessary anyway.

However stay tuned, I may have something else up my sleeve, but I need to make it and trial it first.

12:10 PM  
Blogger Rambling Tart said...

SO sorry to hear about your Grevillea! :-( This is only my second year gardening since I moved to Australia, and I'm learning so much through trial and error. :-) I'm happy that the frosts are over and seedlings are popping up all over: beans, pumpkins, chives. :-)

2:47 PM  
Blogger Jac Calvert said...

I've not tried this worm farm business yet. We have a worm farm box that was left at our house by the previous owners, but we still haven't used it. I think I need to try it out.
Your raised beds look lovely, all ready to go!

11:01 PM  
Blogger lizzie {Strayed Table} said...

Worm farms are so valuable for adding nutrients back to the soil, you sound like a veteran of it.
Your garden looks like it is ready for spring and summer, freshly turned and mulched, looks good.
Sad to see your grevilla go, I thought you would of got more mulch than a bag from one, but I guess they are straggly sometimes.

3:21 PM  

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