We had a little bit more rain in September, about 10mm in a "microburst" that nearly blew over the neighbour's shed and destroyed one of the blinds on our veranda! But I'm not complaining because everything is still green, only just, but its nice to start spring with some green because the forecast is not great for the next few months. My vege garden is in transition from winter to spring. Its still full of greens, but many of them are starting to go to seed. I'm still harvesting silverbeet, mustard greens, kale, parsley (and various herbs), calendula flowers and celery. I have leeks and carrots growing very slowly. And maybe some garlic.
Last month
I planted seeds and I had a bit of trouble with them. I wanted to put the seed tray in the mini greenhouse to stay warm, but a mouse dug up my seeds, so I put them inside the house, but then the seed tray dried out. Some seeds sprouted but didn't really grow much, and in the end it just didn’t work out and I had to start again. I also panicked a little bit about not having veges started as early as I would like (I need to get them established before it gets blisteringly hot and dry in my garden), and I bought some bush bean and button squash seedlings, which I split up into small pots and put in the mini greenhouse to get a bit bigger. I also dug up some tomato seedlings that sprouted from the compost and put them in pots. I was getting desperate at that stage! But then some of my seeds did sprout, so I will have lots of beans and squash and at least one rosella. The problem with buying seedlings is the limited choice, there are so many unusual veges that I would like to grow, so I would prefer to grow from seed (I'm just having to accept that sometimes the timing won't work, and seedlings are a good back-up plan as well!).
This month I want to plant out all those seedlings and pick up lots of manure and waste hay from the paddocks to build up the soil in preparation for another hot dry summer.
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| the chickens trying to find a way into the garden |
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| lots of overgrown greens and seeds appearing |
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| calendula flowers |
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| dill flowers |
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| chervil flowers - first time I've grown it, looking forward to saving seeds |
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| coriander flowers |
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| seedlings in the greenhouse |
How's your garden growing? What have you got planned for October?
I've had mice do that to me too (or rather my seeds). I was so upset ... mind you the cat had just used my seed tray as a kitty litter. Oh you wait, you won't need to save that chervil seed - it self seeds everywhere. Thanks for sharing ..
ReplyDeleteGreat, I love self-seeding (much easier than avoiding mice!)
DeleteI have finally given up on my brassicas and have fed them to the cow. But everything else is growing well and I have just planted another round of seeds and am preparing a shady area for when it gets really hot.
ReplyDeletesounds like a good plan Fee :)
DeleteThose are some happy healthy looking chooks. You know I had to also go and buy some extra seedlings this month due to things not going as planned (mice) with my trays. I am not sure it was hot enough for some of them and then the others just grew to the size of micro greens and stopped. I guess i need to work on my seedling raising skills some more. You are lucky to have the Nanango Market to get seedlings from there is an organic group who grow from Eden seeds I think. They weren't too bad last time I was there. I too get mine from our local market at Yandina which is mostly a plant market. Lets hope for some rain this october too.
ReplyDeleteLook at all your kale! My kale is just starting to take off. Had to get fresh seedlings this year as my last plants, didn't go to seed because the aphids wrecked them. I still managed to get enough for green juices though :)
ReplyDeleteCheeky chooks! I have been surprised that ours haven't figured out how to get into my garden, and I am dreading the day that they do lol!
When we started with chooks we grew a couple of passionfruit vines just outside the fence of the pen and near where the water was emptied, cleaned and filled, so the plant got regular water, plenty of chook poo and grew like jack's beanstalk ! all over that end of the pen, shade and shelter and lots of fruit, just remember to put some shade cloth between the plant and the pen wire , high enough to prevent the girls digging it out or otherwise harming it until it gets established. It eventually grew over the top wire (fox proof run roof) so the girls were cool during the bad heat.
ReplyDelete