4 were set up; 2 x Black Jack Zucchini, 1 for some bee attracting flowers & 1 for the Native Raspberry... Another 6 random flowering plants, including Marigolds, were among the beds....
Some of the seedlings are going great.... The Red Dutch Cabbage, Kohl Rabi & Tomatoes have all shot... 2 of the Eggplant are up.... No sign of the Passion fruit or Cape Gooseberries as of yet... The Pumpkin in the background is being trained to go over the top of Bed #1 & out onto the lawn just in front of the bed if it survives... The Tomatoes are going into this bed with a mix of basil & other plants in front of them... The little cucumber at the front of the pic was self sown & doesnt look like it will be worthwhile saving so out it comes tomorrow... : ( » .
We removed 1 Zucchini from Bed #1 then topped it & Bed # 4 up ready to plant out the new seedlings... Might need to hang some shade to shield the babies when they go into Bed #1 though... Left : We have another large Zucchini ready to be picked & stuffed.... Was going to do one this week but ended up making a huge batch of Tomato & Veggie sauce... Right : We also found our first Eggplant, WOOO HOOO !!!!
The Mutant Zuccumpkin hasnt grown much this week....The vine has been attacked severely by powdery mildew but has been treated, so I am just hoping it can hang on until it is ready to be picked... The Sugarloaf experiment ended this week.... 2 heads were harvested yesterday & are in the fridge ready for dinner tomorrow night....
I can now see the virtue of thinning out the Carrots while they are small.... They are starting to get powdery mildew in the centre, which I sprayed as soon as finding out... These little Dragon Carrots got steamed & went very well with the Roast Oink last night....
This weeks harvest.... Beetroot leaves, Lettuce, Zucchini, Shallots, Lemongrass, Baby Dragon Carrots, Kaffir Lime leaves, Strawberries, Beans, 3 eggs a day & Our 1 & only Wombok !!! Rain.... 18 mm this week.... Only had to fill up Bed # 5 this week... I think that is due to the vast amount of Carrots, Lettuce & Beetroot....Bed # 1 also got a top up but it didnt take as much as it normally would...
Thats about it for now.... Have a great one all !!!!!
Had a great weekend in the yard doing some jobbies, socialising with ADULTS& playing with a family heirloom that has been "lent" to me...
BBQ, Good Friends & Spuds... My farther has passed on custodianship of the family BBQ to us... He built this BBQ for APEX outings before I was born (40 or a few less years ago) & it is still going strong with a few minor alterations like the tin side panels being replaced with Stainless steel & some Aluminium covers to keep the plate clean when stored & not in use... It had been out of service for the past 10 or so years as family gatherings had migrated to other relatives places so it needed a bit of TLC... The plate needed a bit of a touch to remove a bit of rust build up as well as replacing the regulator & lines just to be on the safe side... Not as flash as a newer model but we know it will last another 40 or so years if looked after.. I like that we can remove the burners & use them to boil the presure cooker (when we get one) for canning our produce in the near future...
We got to use it for the first time on Saturday when we had friends visit for a bit of socialising... Was a great day & got a bit of help in the yard... We needed to harvest the 4 potato bags from around the side of the house as the stalks were all dying back so the young kids all got a go at digging through the soil to see what they could find... Wasnt the best yield but we are still learning with spuds... I think the mix we used was to free draining & it was a struggle to keep the water up to them... Also got a bit of a hand with the framework to finish off the AP site... Can set the fish tank & other grow beds up now... Thanks Guys & Girls...
Fertilisers... We bought a couple of bags of fertiliser last week from Safe Fertilisers as we are starting to run low on the rock dust & have a few beds/barrels that need to be revitalised before they are plated out.. The last batch we got was an all rock dust blend but decided to try a "BFA Certified" "Enviro Blend" this time.. CBM Chicken manure, blood & bone, and minerals. This 100% organic blend provides the full spectrum of macro and micro elements. N 2%, P 2%, K 0.4%, S 2000ppm, Ca 8%, Mg 2%, Fe 1.4ppm, Mn 370ppm, B250ppm, Cu 55ppm, Zn 120ppm, Co 10ppm, Mo 40ppm, Se 3ppm, C 20%, Si 5% Not the most pleasant smelling blend but should help kick things on a bit... Will still be using the horse manure & worm castings as added organic matter to the beds/barrels, this is just to help add a few nutrients that were used up in the last crop or just not there... The main crop of Beetroot is not preforming as well as the others planted out at the same time & it was suggested to us that it could be a boron deficiency so they will get a nice top dress of fertiliser too...
Harvesting & Planting out... Have been picking a fair of Kohlrabi, Carrots, Spring Onion & Mangle to turn into coleslaw lately & it has become a bit of a favourite... 4 bas of potatoes were also harvested (see picture above) as well as the garlic that is in the clip below... The stems went a bit soft on some & others had already dried out but were missed amongst the Onions so we though it best to harvest the lot.. The Silverbeet/Chard & other leafy greens are still being used to supplement the chooks diet.. They now look forward to their morning/evening treats & come running as soon as they see us in the patch... Below is a list of what was planted out last night to take advantage of the full moon... Carrots, a mix of Nantes (Johnsons seeds- organic) & Dragon (Eden seeds) x 2 rows in Bed #1 Carrots, Mini Round (Diggers seed) x 2 rows in Bed #1 Carrots, Heirloom mixed (Diggers seed ??) x 2 rows in Bed #1 Tomato, Broad Ripple Yellow currant (Diggers ??) in Lime Tree bed... Tomato, Wapsipinicon Peach (Diggers ??) in Lime Tree bed... All but the Nantes & Dragon Carrots were from the gift we received from from our You Tube gardener friend Watsamadoing last week... Thanks again :D»
Garden walk through Clip... Bit of what was said above & other natterings...
Weather... It will start to heat up here a bit by the weekend we are told, hitting about 29°C by Friday, so we are thinking about putting up some of the shade structure to try & stop some of the Broccoli from premature bolting... Will be trying to incorporate the mesh we got to try & keep the White Cabbage Moth/Butterflies from getting to the Brassicas & depositing their eggs...
Some of the seedlings are going great.... The Red Dutch Cabbage, Kohl Rabi & Tomatoes have all shot... 2 of the Eggplant are up.... No sign of the Passion fruit or Cape Gooseberries as of yet...
We removed 1 Zucchini from Bed #1 then topped it & Bed # 4 up ready to plant out the new seedlings... Might need to hang some shade to shield the babies when they go into Bed #1 though... 
Left : We have another large Zucchini ready to be picked & stuffed.... Was going to do one this week but ended up making a huge batch of Tomato & Veggie sauce...
