Each winter I forget how slow things are to grow. Seeds take weeks not days to germinate, frost comes and cleans out the weak and everything looks drab.
But then there are the plants that cannot handle the hot summer heat. Broccoli, peas and loquats. Here is what the winter garden is doing:
Bed 1 is currently unproductive. I should have dug it over by now, and added compost along with a green manure crop and some heavy mulch. I have some old peas seeds so I might throw them around and see what happens.
Bed 2 is cranking out the brassicas. The broccoli has been slow to start but now is giving us a few heads every few days. The cauliflowers are slow going but are starting to heart nicely. The garden under the mulberry tree has been attended by the chooks so no cabbages this season.
Bed 3 is slowly growing, the garlic and onions are looking good. And the beetroot seedlings are slowly emerging. I still have great trouble growing carrots – the germination rates are few and far between. Pete Cundell makes it look so easy!
Bed 4. The peas are taller than me now and have started to flower. I am waiting with anticipation for fresh peas. I have sown the seeds several weeks apart so there should be a constant harvest. This morning I have sown the next lot of seeds so they should be up next week.
Bed 5 has a mustard crop sown in it. I read in the organic gardening magazine that mustard is good for dealing with nematodes. I have had some evidence of them in the last crop tomaoto crop. The mustard will be dug into the ground as a green manure crop later in the month. Apparently the gas they release as the plant breaks down kills the nematodes. There is also last summers lettuce crop going to seed. Its just started to flower.
And check out the loquat tree! It is loaded. We had 8 children climbing in it the other day hunting for ripe fruit. They must have been getting desperate by the end, as I saw a few greenish ones being eaten. I had to warn their parents incase they had upset tummies…..
On our menu this week – loquat crumble!
As many of you know school holidays are here and well now almost over. Playdates, visiting relatives, giant stuffed animal shows and sickness have been a few of the highlights so far. Getting near the computer much less the garden has been a challenge. But I am here
No news yet if the neighbours development is going ahead, they should be hearing sometime this week if it is final. It has really dampened my spirits of doing any work in the yard knowing what we may not be staying. I walk through the garden wondering - will I see my garlic mature? Eat the mulberries in spring? The other question is do we take the raised gardens with us, will the next occupants want them? At least the mandarin trees are small enough to be moved and I can take cuttings from the mulberry, pepino, comfrey, mints. And the lots of lemon will come too.
Sigh, so the curve ball is yet to land or be caught. But we will continue to wait ready to spring to action once the decision has been made. Meanwhile the garden still needs to be watered, chooks fed and children to entertain.
Something is telling me that the coffee trees will not survive this winter.
They were even covered.
1 point frost – 0 points my plants
Well that’s what I would be if I relied solely upon my garden. ‘Pickings’ are a bit slim at the moment. A few old bitter lettuce leaves and enough broccoli florets for a single serve. Loquats and maybe some pea shoots?
*Sigh* How does one know when to begin planting out the winter crops? I thought I started early enough to miss the gap. Then the first batch of broccoli seeds failed, life things happen and suddenly you are behind with plantings and have the dreaded famine gap! I wonder how the family will feel about stewed loquats 3 meals a day?
This last week has just slipped away. But it certainly has been a busy one. A Hospital visits for Gromets. Harvesting 4kgs of green Roma tomatoes. Turning said green tomatoes into chutney. Feasting on slightly sour loquats. A run away grey chook – it turned up at the neighbours. If anyone is interested in the two grey ones please email me! They are not suited to city living…. Also there has been many walls and ceilings cleaned and lots of painting.
A garden update is in the works there is certainly a lot of growing happening at the moment just not much eating.
This afternoon was the girls first trip into the yard. They chased bugs, ate cabbage plants and scratched happily away for over an hour in the fading afternoon light.
When chooks are first introduced to a new home it is best to let them venture out late in the afternoon - they are less likely to run away and instead head home to bed.
A few more days and they will be ready to spend the whole day out in the back yard.
Sometimes life throws you a curve ball.
We recently recieved the news that ours neighbours are selling their land to developers. 6 town houses will be built in their homes place. Yesterday we were told that another property that backs onto ours will be also developed. A total of 12 units in two blocks! The thought of living next to that many people is hard to comprehend. We love our large block, yeah we are in the airport flight path, but we really like it here. School and Hubby’s work is close by and so is our family.
So now we are Struggling with the decision of what to do. Move or Stay?
Whatever the decision will be there is still time to finish planting out the broccoli, feast on sour loquats and harvest the first peas.
Edited for the correct breeds of the hens…. see comments below for details – Thanks Chris!
Yesterday welcomed 2 new girls to the coop. And today welcomed 4 more. So introducing our new girls:
These two are Golden Laced Wyandottes raised by Chris at Bushland Project. They are 22 weeks old.
Next up is our cross-breed farm chickens. Stock was being cleared out and I brought them for a song – I hope I won’t regret my decision later, as I was really hoping for pure breeds but was having a lot of trouble sourcing them.
They are rather ‘interesting’ looking girls and slightly older than the the Golden Laced girls, but are all equal in size. They are in great condition, heavy, glossy eyes and feathers.
The two darker hens are Leghorns x. I was told they are roughly 10mths old and should be laying.
The two grey girls are Wyandotte (he may have been mistaken what do you think) x ? They are very flighty and screech when they are picked up, like a cockatoo. No kidding it is scary! I am unsure if they will last as city chickens, I think they will fly over the 4ft fence at the back of the yard into the mouth of the neighbours dog first chance they get! But I will give them a few weeks to calm down and clip their wings first, before making a decision.
So that is our 6 new girls. I hope that they will be happy here and that 2 of them especially will soon settle down.
The cool crisp nights are telling me they are coming. And so is the Elders Weather 5 day prediction.
And now the gardens are prepared for it. The Pepino in the Herb bed is covered, as it really really dislikes frosts and the paved area is the lowest points of the yard. So the herb garden tends to be frosted hard. And the young fruit trees are now dressed in pillowcases at night to protect their tender leaves. Bring it on Jack Frost!
The Girls new accommodation is now finished. I hung the gate this morning.
The floor, walls and roof are all covered in mesh. Hubby jokes it is a wire prison. The total size of the pen 2.5m x 3m around and it stands 2m high. Tomorrow I will be covering the base wire with a light covering of soil and then a layer of deep litter. Also I will disinfect the coop, let it dry and then fill it with fresh straw.
As there will be 2 different lots of hens coming in I will be keeping them all in the pen for several days. (Mondays delivery has been postponed to Thursday) Later on the chooks will be able to free range in the back area. But before they can go into the back area the fence will need to be rebuilt – I recycled the fence into the pen.
So my next solo project is to built a nice fence for the back area.
And I must say a big thank you to my lovely Hubby for his building expertise with the chook accommodation!
