Child of the Planet

 

Hoping that the Spring winds have blown themselves out so have taken down the ‘zombie defences’. You can see what the garden looked like ( here ).

Herbs such as the thyme and oregano seem to be doing really well. One of the types of lettuce is hanging in there. I had to remove the coriander as it ‘went to seed’ and will try again in the winter. Added some spinach donated from a neighbour. Celery is also going to seed. Will be adding the basil that I successfully germinated from seed this year.

Another regular past failure of mine has been potatoes ( read here ). This time around there is lots of foliage but if it's anything like the garlic, there isn't much indication of action happening underground. Also, I didn't know that potatoes bore fruit!

The lemon hedge looked very sparse after all the leaves were striped by winter winds ( read here ). I'm happy to report that they seem to be making a comeback. Possibly due to the urine/seaweed/comfrey tea that I applied a few weeks back?

Random mat of seedlings that appeared in the garden bed, has turned out to be hundreds of self seeded tomato seedlings I spend so much time nurturing veg that I couldn't just rip them all out. Following the 'no dig' theory, I punched some holes into cardboard that had been laid down to kill the grass, and planted out some of those seedlings. A week later and some of the transplants died. Luckily I have a 'mat' of tomato seedlings on stand by as replacements.

Temp seems to be averaging above 20°C so I'm peeling back the plastic to let the unadulterated environment in ( click here to read about cover ).

Tomatoes are rocking along. These are replacements for some plants that didn’t ‘take’. I didn’t grow from seed, I used the ‘lateral’ cloning that you can read about here .

One last try next year. Looking to change the spacing, grow some out the back, maybe do some companion planting. Also start an extra month earlier.

Read about the garden I established ( here ). These were started in the poly-tunnel.

The spring westerlies have arrived, and my wind mitigation devices make the veg garden look more like fortifications for the zombie apocalypse. I’ve been experimenting for years ( read here ) and I think that I’ve decided that localised demount-able breaks are the best solution. Everything is held together with roofing screws so it’s easy to take down once the winds have buggered off.

 

Update on what's been happening on the property. Drag the mouse pointer about in video to 'look around'. Last springs walkabout is here .

Trees were stripped of leaves over winter, so I took the opportunity for a ‘hard prune’. Cleaned up around the trunks and added some coffee grounds.

Local council reckons my front garden could be flooded at some point due to rising sea levels, so I’m getting plan B ready. I have a spot in the backyard where I’ve been improving the sand.  Cleaned out the grass roots and stones. Added ash, comfrey, mulch, coffee grounds, and some Rok Solid.

 Was curious as to what the garlic looked like underground with all the rust attacking the leaves. Not very promising...

 

Getting some sprouting happening. Added a plastic hoop cover to keep the warmth in, and it allows me to control how much water gets to the seeds. Slugs are a problem, so the gaps at the base of the plastic lets the birds in to go hunting. The net is to protect the seeds from the birds. Since the first lot germinated, I’ve extended the tunnel house and planted some more seed.

 

I’ve decided to plant soybeans. I’ve done some research on the net, and talked with other people that have tried to grow them locally. This bed has been sitting fallow so I’ll clear out the cardboard and mulch to plant the seeds.     Covered the whole thing with a net to keep out the black birds.