Having planted most of the first three gardens it was obvious that another one was needed for crops like lettuce, beetroot, etc. so half an hour with the sharp spade and I have the makings of the next (and last) garden. There isn’t any more room in the full sun.
The soil was moist and easy to dig, the radial from the trap vertical HF antenna will have to be re-located along a path, you can see where it was at the bottom of the picture in the middle.
Just after I planted the first seeds in the new vege gardens there has ben very heavy rain, the timing is perfect. I planted two varieties of beans, silver beet and red pac choy in one bed and two rows of sweet corn in the other, the variety is called ‘honey cream’ I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the cobs. Sweet corn is fantastic when eaten raw within ten minutes of picking, before the sugars turn into starches.
See the name tags? Just after I placed them at the end of the rows, the two singing magpies, Pavarotti and Caruso arrived and decided that the tags shouldn’t be there and pulled them all out.
The front of the house looks bright with the petunias and erigeron in full flower:
The front driveway looks like a stony desert so I decided to add some life and color by planting some flowering shrubs. A visit to the nursery provided the necessary plants and I dug eight holes thru the hard road-base. It took a crowbar and lots of work but in the end I had an arc of five Callistemon var. Captain Cook bottle brushes planted. They will produce an abundance of bright red bottle brushes in the spring and summer. I need three shrubs to plant behind them to provide color in the autumn and winter.
It sure looks hard and dry.
On the southern side of the house the clivea are in full flower, they really like the spot along the rock wall:
After a cold snap spring has returned again, the sun is in the ninth house and the twin magpies are singing to me every day in the garden.
After removing out some old shrubs at the front I have planted five Polygala which will grow to about two meters and have pea like flowers all year round.
At the front door the Cyclamen is very happy, last year it had eighteen blooms and this year it has twenty seven.
There are some Clivea at the southern fence and they have sprung into bloom in spite of the pruning during the winter. I have used a photo as the desktop on my computer.
In the proto-vege-garden department the third bed is now ready and the tomato seeds in punnets have just sprouted this morning. All I need now is some mesh to fence out the scrub turkeys and the garden is ready and growing. I will be using the biological/organic/biodynamic systems so the produce will taste great.
I have been getting my veges from the Green Shed on Sunday mornings, it is a very vibrant place where the local growers bring their organic produce for sale. It is an ideal situation where I know who the farmer is and I can even talk to them If needed.
Betty’s bromeliads are looking good in pots, one was a bit doubtful after the move but is now more alive.
Spring is early this year the nights are still cold at this altitude but the days are very nice. I started another garden bed in the back yard all I need now is some rain and I will apply the biodynamic preparation. I can almost taste the tomatoes.
The snowdrops in the pot are up and have a couple of flowers and so are the daffodils near the back door:
Some nice colour:
It is like the fairies have been working at night, I started shaking the soil out of the grass I turned over and here is this beautiful friable soil where only a couple of weeks ago was hard clay. Then again it could be the action of the gypsum doing what it does best.
 | The avian inspection party checks out the improved soil. |
Next I need a fence around it to keep the scrub turkeys out. I have read that if the soil is in tip top condition biologically then the turkeys don’t come. I will certainly try this and see. There has been no rain since starting.
