Hot weather = perfect Tomato & Capsicum growing weather

Tomatoes and capsicum love the hot weather, plenty of sunshine and water and handful of complete organic fertiliser at planting, jam a stake in as well and bring it on...

So far I've done a punnet of tomato seedlings (Pear) - with a followup planting due in 4 weeks. Plus I direct sowed seeds (Roma). My pre-planting fertiliser was blood and bone, plus a bit around the drip line of the plant once in. In about 3 weeks I will put some pelleted chicken manure fertiliser like Dynamic lifter around as well - or I will try and rake up a good amount out of the chook house!

Make sure you're planting some beetroot, corn, carrot and lettuce to have in your summer time salads as well now hey! Another day delayed, another missed opportunity!

Happy planting :)

Okay so the 'stringline' is a bit of an overkill for lining my stakes up ...

Working with seedlings can be a great opportunity for kids to get involved!

Clucky Chooky

We've just encountered our first 'clucky chook' ... rather a surprise considering this hen is barely 5 months old! She had been on the nest with her feathers puffed out, looking very cosy for a couple of days. Our nest box is a rollaway type, so she isn't even sitting on eggs!

A few growls and shrieks when we went near her was the other indicator she was nesting on her non-existent eggs. So we don't have a rooster (to fertilise the eggs) and rely on them for eggs (they stop laying when clucky), so obviously this situation is not good. 

Before we had a chance to google more info, I happened to see the kids hairdresser, Judy, who had  experience with 'clucky chooks'. Seems their body temp needs cooling (gives another meaning to animals going on 'heat') and the best way to do this is firstly remove them from the nesting area; preferably in a cage; raised off the ground to get the air-flow under their broody body. They also need to be made 'uncomfortable' - no where to lay as such.

One google site also said that with some hens, all they need is a few times of being physically removed from the nest and carried out to the yard where their flockmates are ranging - that seems like the 'softly softly' way.

Opting for the cage approach, fully stocked on food and water we will let her out in a few days and see if the 'broody buster' cage works.

Side view - she is not looking to amused by the whole situation!

Top view, old saucepan for water works well - secure and full

Free Mulch

Now this is the best idea I think I’ve ever had… So we had the spud crop etc in one section of the garden now the broccoli is nearly done, and I was a bit slack once the spuds were harvested, I should have planted some rye grass straight away for “green manure crop” but I didn’t now I’ve got soil that looks lifeless, it needs organic matter digging into it.

So I’ve been thinking what’s around here that I can cut up/ cut down for mulch to dig in, don’t really have anything at the moment, and I don’t want to buy any; then while looking at the lawn, I thought PERFECT… I always cut our lawn quite high in parts (nice and soft to walk on) no grass seed present etc. I thought I’ll just get the push mower and take the grass down low and put the clippings in the garden – note the grass is basically dead at the moment cos of no rain in long time so this isn’t like putting extremely green clippings in the soil causing heat.

So I scattered the clippings over the top of soil; left for few days to really dry out; then dug in, beautiful!

Best part is I didn’t go somewhere and fork out cash.. done deal!

In the garden today ...

OK so the garden is firing, weather is a cool 5 - 8°c at day break and up to 28°c during the day.

We are doing daily pickings of the new crop of beans. The follow-up planting - which has not flowered yet - will be ready on que as the current one ends. Succession planting is a vital for everyday vege like beans.

Just started to harvest another carrot crop and the next lot is about an inch high. Jeez the last carrot crop was a cracker! Actually talking about cracker crops.. I have never seen so much great looking broccoli that we have been eating from the garden in the last 6 or so weeks - mind blowing stuff (can you tell this stuff excites me?).

Pea shoots have been a great hit around here too - Jules mixing it up in salads, stirring through stir-frys etc. Peas in the pod too, BUT honestly half of it doesn't even make it to the kitchen cos' what we like to do is forage about the garden - we all just go in there and pick stuff and eat it on the spot. The vege garden for us a like a meeting place, our family end up in there several times a day over the weekend chatting and foraging like a bunch of chooks - its all happy times my friend.

Motivating you to plant some seeds?   ….join the revolution and cast some seed today!

Fresh head of Broccoli

Older head, going to flower - but still great to eat

Spud Time

Ok spud time again - check out how we went...

Fantastic little helpers too! It was like unearthing gold to them.

This is the first crop in the new patch, so I had allot riding on this – well my own self-interest anyways.

Yep our yield was better than last year, but I wouldn’t be boasting to the ABC’s Gardening Australia about it put it that way. Maybe we got 6 spuds (good size) under each plant so not super happy with the deal considering the time and space it takes up.

But worth noting is; other than the pre-planting fertilizer, I didn’t add any other fertilizer so next crop I will add some blood and bone and see what happens.

Zinnias are Awesome

"They bloom in vivid colors from summer until frost, are a snap to grow from seed, 

and attract birds, bees and butterflies to your yard"

One of our most successful flowers to grow has been the humble Zinnia. I guess you could call it a heritage flower, in the sense it has been around forever - If your grandparents were gardeners - they probably grew these.

The longevity and easy care nature makes it perfect for anyone looking to have a colourful display three seasons of the year.

The on-set of winter has meant however we no longer have them! They are slowly dying down but now we are blessed with dried seed buds! Yay - love seed collecting!

In a couple of months when the last frost has past, we will start re-planting - they are extremely easy to plant from seed.

Roll the seed head between your hands and scatter for a rambling cottage garden or pick out the spear-head shaped seeds, they range in colour from pale brown to black and are a similar size to a sunflower seeds, but flat. They can grow quite tall, so near a fence or other shrubs is ideal. As a rule of thumb, loosely cover the seed to a depth three times it's size. Allow 6 weeks before your garden is awash of Zinnia colour!

Dead heads don't look that attractive in the garden, but mean many more flowers for the future!

Used here in a foam block for a table centrepiece. 

A Foxy Story

24 hours after the introduction of three new beautiful black hens, I'm faced with bagging up a savaged chicken. Feeling heart-broken and angry this afternoon, I spent some considerable time re-fencing and reinforcing the coop.

Getting three new girls seemed like a good idea at the start of the week… for it was only a week ago one of our old brown hens went missing… now the penny has dropped and my lesson learned the hard way.

It seems from what I hear, foxes can either snatch and whisk away, or kill in the coop, clenching at the hens neck, possibly getting spooked, leaving the mess with intention of returning. It is highly likely the little bugger is living in the paddock next door, a greenbelt area with a creek running through it. And now the fox has taken two, it's likely to return for another!

Our coop has been quite suffice the last few years, but a complete overhaul is now likely, which means digging down at least a foot with fencing and covering over the top. It will also mean restricted grazing in their secondary paddock (aka dam area).

So out with some leftover chicken wire I went about completely enclosing their house this afternoon. I'm not taking any risks, pegged down with tent pegs, no escaping and hopefully no intruders. My four remaining hens (two old ISA's and the two new Australorps) are going to be close quarters the next few days until I can come up with some fox solutions… 

Sacrifices

Injury has fallen upon chief gardener so a few sacrifices have been made in the planting department. Thankfully the potatoes, broccoli and some carrots went in last month. Also our 5 year old helped plant the garlic. Getting the last of the winter crops in is a must over the next couple of weeks - Leeks and any of the brasichaus.

Once again we are coping a battering from the grubs! The garlic/chilli spray has been used in force the last few weeks but they are still lingering. The sunflowers have especially been hit hard - okay so they are not going to feed us so the sacrifice is bearable. It makes you wonder if they are a deterrent or an attractant?

We also had a 2nd round of corn going well until a few late night visits from a possum - not the rusty one - alive and well, destine to be our next sacrifice. . .

Honey bee and native bees attracted to the pollen

Current rows - potato, broccoli, garlic, carrots and beans

Corn Harvest Time

Yep harvested the corn the other day - a very spiritual moment as always, 30 something cobs all up.. So a few in the fridge to eat over the next few days then blanched the rest to freeze.

There’s something about having an abundance of a crop that I like, makes it feel worthwhile like a plan has somehow come through for the future..

So to blanch these suckers: just wash them clean; remove all hairy bits; fill a pot big enough to hold your quantity; get it to a rapid boil; then pop corn in for 7-8 mins; then cool rapidly in bowl (or sink) full of iced water – cool it for the same amount of time that you boiled it for; ziplock in meal quantities then pop into freezer.

Now we have corn to enjoy over the next few months!

  

Meanwhile in the garden.. I have roughly fenced off the ex-corn crop with chicken wire and made a temporary daytime home for them to clean up the space and add some fertiliser!

This is another spiritual moment - letting the chooks do what they’re designed to do, geez 4 chooks can clean up a concentrated part of vege garden quick - you should try it!

Pickle Me Cucumber!

The garden has just been going bizzurk with the consistent rain and heat! Cueys (as we refer to them as) have been one of our success stories and most visitors are sent home with a few.

So when we stumbled upon a pickling recipe out of a book the other day it seemed perfect timing to give this preserving thing a go.

The recipe calls for a kilo of cucumbers (approximately 8 medium sized), 500mls of white wine vinegar, 3 bulbs of garlic, some pickling spices, sugar and an onion.

You leave the salted, sliced cucumber and onion for a couple of hours before rinsing and draining then popping into the sterilised jars. Our jars were 500ml - enough to fill two. They recommend eating within one month of bottling - hopefully that won't be too hard if they turn out!

With an Easter-break camping trip just around the corner one jar will be coming with us - can't wait to slap one or three on a burger!

Bugs Everywhere!

And they have knocked over about 1 meter of my carrot crop – I’m out for revenge.

Now that its rained and actually won’t stop the bugs are out and yep…they’re hungry! A few types of caterpillar getting about the garden so I whipped into action, firstly prepared some garlic spray – this acts as a deterrent more than anything but will knock over some grubs.. As I’ve bantered on about before, please don’t spray your veges with artificial chemicals these kills things and even humans eventually.

Garlic spray:
· About 1 bulb of garlic
· 100ml vegetable oil
· Soak overnight

Into the blender add above mixture plus:
· Squirt of liquid pure soap
· Litre of water

Strain, then spray onto bug infested plants

** Warning keep away from children!

Then I whipped up some chilli spray to get the actual grubs.

Chilli fire spray:
· Handful of fresh red chillies

· 1 litre of water

Now blend really good
· Couple squirts pure soap

Blend again just quickly

Strain then spray onto bugs!

** Warning keep away from children! Chilli spray very dangerous on eyes and sensitive skin (and caterpillars hahaha)


You can actually mix the two sprays together as an all in one I suppose, please yourself, and if you’re not sure spray a little on one plant as a test first to check that no adverse reaction or burning occurs.

This is garlicky smelly stuff, but the smell dissipates quickly once it's been sprayed around. These mixtures need to be re-sprayed frequently, such as after rain or heavy dew.

It's best to spray every few days until there's no sign of pests, then about every week to 10 days for any eggs or larvae that may have hatched out.

Roses 'n' Rain

We have suffered a few weeks of drizzling late-summer rain and getting into the garden to weed and prune has almost been impossible without gum boots, a rain jacket and a row boat! Okay, well perhaps not the later, but you get the idea!

Any attempts at pruning the roses today quickly dissipated when yet another dark cloud dropped its load overhead.

So instead of snipping, I pulled out the camera and did some snapping...

Back in late January when we scored that 21 inches in almost 21 hours everything, roses included, was fertilised with blood and bone. 5 weeks on, the results speak volumes.

Planting in the Rain

Laying out the packets, deciding what to plant.

Planting in the rain is as much fun as a kid playing under the overflowing tank – well nearly!


Yeah…it’s raining again and one month has passed since my last feverish planting effort - that crop is powering, almost waist high corn…yippee!


So yesterday I planted more corn, beans and a couple of different types of lettuce. I should plant some more carrots while the rain is here too.


Remember best time to plant small seeds is during a wet period as they need to stay moist, planting now can sometimes cut germination time in half.

Also now is kind of last chance in these parts (SE QLD) to plant potatoes, next time I get to town I’m going to get some seed spuds to plant, can’t wait.

So, c’mon get planting - don’t wait another day!

Wet, lush, green and powering - I love the rain!

Dagun Growers Market

We took the family for a drive this afternoon and checked out the Dagun Growers Market. It's only about fifteen minutes away and only held once a week at the train station. The town itself basically consists of a small local school, saw-mill, a dozen houses or so and the train station. The regular tourist train isn't running out this way anymore, so the growers market is a relatively new initiative to bring the community back together and showcase their 'home-grown' goodies. We even spotted a few unique salad greens amongst the mix which has motived us to diversify with our garden like 'endive' and 'mizuka'.

Everyone was friendly and the kids had a play on the dis-used railway tracks. We picked up some potatoes, cucumber, honey, a pineapple and pumpkin bread! The prices were really good - but the food mileage is awesome - all the stuff for sale had been grown within a really close radius of the town!
Not having any expectations, all in all, the experience was pretty good - but in reflection, it would of been great to have some fruit trees for sale (I know there is a grower only 10 min away) and dairy produce (semi-big company only 5 min away who does a whole plethora of goodies).

Some would argue the point of buying everything local - but we don't live in a commune and sometimes it is not entirely possible! We don't get too hung up on buying and eating local, but perhaps having one meal a week with local or homegrown stuff is a start. For instance tonight we had toasted pumpkin bread, topped with local bacon (Langshaw Pork), rocket and beet leaves from our garden, drizzled with local olive oil (Fat Hen Farm)! Dessert will be mango sorbet that I made a few weeks back using local mangoes!

A Spiritual Moment

Some may remember that little over two weeks ago the very first seeds where planted in our new garden. I'm wondering how many others planted back then, and if so are about to enjoy the spiritual moment we had last night…

Yes, our first harvest - albeit some small leafy greens… It was still just a moment of pure bliss to have some mouth watering tender new leaves that we grew from a tiny spec of insignificant nothingness - amazing!

Now this might not top the charts of 'first' moments in life, but it's up there! Having such a long break of growing with extreme heat and lack of rain in December, to now be rewarded.

For those who don't 'grow' I would like to quote Stephanie Alexander (Author, 'My Kitchen Garden') which sums up our thoughts pretty much about how we feel…

"Developing your own product kitchen garden is very satisfying, and nothing tastes as special as home-grown produce. You and your family can be confident that the food you are eating is not only fresh and seasonal, it is also free of any harmful chemicals, it has not been transported long distances…"

So get out there, no matter what scale and plant a seed or two!

Giving the Seedlings a Boost

Yes allot of the seeds planted a week and a half ago are well and truly up, especially the corn, beans, zucchini and cucumber. So now is the time to push these suckers out of the ground and upward!

Our rows of corn - less than 2 weeks ago just a seed...

A mild fertiliser will help them along! I reckon the best stuff to use is seaweed/fish fertiliser or good ol' thrive (not organic). If you use thrive use it at half rate to avoid risk of burning. You need to apply these weekly for the next month. Also as the beans and corn get up they only need a good fertiliser once you may have done this as a “pre=planting fertiliser” or you can do when the plant has a couple of sets of “true leaves” then apply a side dress of blood and bone or similar all round gear. Phosphorus or Potash is good too depending on the crop. Will talk fertilisers more soon as I will do my crops within a week using blood and bone.

In the meantime don’t drop the ball, push them plants out of the ground and look out for grubs on the attack!

Salad Greens

It's a beautiful thing: Heat + Moisture

Last Friday morning after a night of rain (and just before the big 20 inches of rain) I planted a good crop of seeds: corn, beans, beetroot, carrot, lettuce, zucchini, and cucumber. The soil temperature is perfect with plenty of moisture - there is no better time to be planting. And now just four days later, the sweet moment has arrived.. corn and beans planted last Friday morning are coming up. Lettuce is up as well. All this after 20 inches of rain! Here I was thinking surely they would of washed away!

Beans emerging - it's a beautiful thing

If you live on the Eastern side of Australia right now conditions are perfect - now is the best time to be planting heaps of stuff!

It’s one of the special things in life planting a seed and watching it sprout – just take a minute to think about it..

Below is a small selection of what can planted with success just now, so go get planting don’t leave it another day it could be germinating by then!

The corn shoots through

Beans (all kinds)

Beetroot

Carrot

Chives

Cucumber

Kohlrabi

(I am having flashback of this plant from a not so pleasant Israeli dude that treated us like slaves!)

Lettuce

Mustard Greens

Parsley

Radish

Silverbeet

Sunflower

(cool to look at plus chooks love to eat it)

Sweet Corn

Zucchini

Weed Control

Our old vege garden has now been transformed into a citrus orchard, incorporating the existing trees, and planting a couple more. Part of the area was grassed which we don't want competing with the trees so we are mulching over. But before the mulch goes down, a good layer of newspaper is essential - half a dozen sheets - alternatively cardboard.

We are reminded of the time we rocked up at one of our Wwoofing farms in Washington State, US. It appeared to be a series of ramshackled humpies and a yard strewn with litter.

We were tempted to turn around thinking 'what the heck have we got ourselves into.' Thankfully, the address we came to was actually the 'old farm' and we stayed up the road a little ways. However, this place was still well and truly the working 'farm' were did a few days pruning and weeding. 

Our host Lorna was one of the most down to earth, genuine and resourceful people we meet on our journey.

Her raspberry orchard strewn with litter was actually her way of keeping the weeds at bay - anything from old jeans, fertiliser bags and sheets - nothing got wasted and most recycled for use in the garden. Appearances were a low priority here, but a lesson for all in being resourceful.

And it just gets hotter!

We have had a few 40°c days around here with good amount of humidity, enough to burn of any self-respecting plant at ground level let alone a seedling!

Our New Year heralds the start of a new, bigger garden for us! Yippee!

spot X for new garden

We have built a new garden because we just couldn’t grow enough food in the old one. It is a bit more than 3 times bigger in area, on a slight slop and in a north-west facing position.

onlookers checking out the 'digger'

Making it was a big job as we had to remove a half dead tree with an excavator. While the excavator was there, we had the garden area marked out and got the guy to “scratch” the ground down about 100mm then after all that was done added a good layer of cane mulch and manure then more cane mulch.

Put some wood sleepers around the edge to contain the whole thing, built the fence by using most of the old stuff from the old garden.

now the hard work begins...

Is kind of neat having a blank canvas to work with, and important to get the layers right, once its moist we can plant and cultivate parts of the garden, at least the micro-organisms will start to work with some moisture.

On the weekend we installed the irrigation this was easy, we just used “knockers” - more about this in a future blog.

So new garden is ready to go but nothing is planted because the earth that we worked up is so dry deep down, so once we get good rain – we’ll be out there after the first shower!

front garden posts from trees
we cut down in our backyard

starting to come together, just the fencing to go

In the meantime we haven’t just been watching the heat - I've been busy planting some seeds into seedling trays that will save some time after it rains - presuming that happens in the next month…

Weak Egg Shells

We've had a few slipped yolks recently with a weak soft shell lurking in the coop. With no 'grit' provided, I thought I'd try the home ('frugal') remedy of feeding them back their shells. I figure why buy it when the chickens are already providing it to us...

It seems this problem is worse in summer - something to do with the calcium being retained by the hen and not putting much into the making of the egg.

So quite easy really and best done when you are about to use eggs for cooking as firstly, you are breaking the egg for a reason and secondly, generally you are about to heat the oven anyways!

Pop them on a baking tray and into the oven for about five minutes at medium temp. This will harden any leftover membrane still attached which makes it easier to crush up. 

Next smash them up using a mortar and pestle - well I think that is the easiest way - until they are quite fine, but not powder.

Then hey presto - ready for feeding - just added them to their daily bucket of scraps.

I'm going to start doing this at least twice a week and see how things improve. Tony is a little sceptical of chickens eating their own eggs but from what I've also read sometimes they eat their eggs because their body is craving calcium. 

January Heat Waves

The heatwave is continuing here in South-East Queensland and our gardening enthusiasm has hit an all-time low. I guess every gardener goes through these lows, and we should be resting ahead of busy year with the new garden just waiting for rain before it's first planting.

I came across this article from Aussie Organic Gardening and it has given a little inspiration to at least do 'something' outside...

"January and February can be tricky months for gardening in Australia, and gardeners will have to adjust their planting to suit local climate conditions. If it is too hot to grow things in your area, use the time to do a good job of preparing beds for strawberries, leeks and winter vegetables early in the morning or in late afternoon when temperatures are lower. Many parts of Australia are experiencing extreme conditions and the vegetable garden will appreciate some temporary shade.

Before the Full Moon, silver beet (pre-soak seed), and sunflower can be sown directly into beds, as well as a green manure crop of adzuki bean, cow pea, lablab, millet, mung bean, pigeon pea, Japanese millet, or sorghum. Leek can be sown in late January.

During First Quarter phase, eggplant, rockmelon, summer squash, tomato, and watermelon can be sown, also cucumber in late January. Bush and climbing beans, and sweet corn can be sown directly into beds.

During Full Moon phase, lemon grass, mango, pineapple and watercress can be sown or planted out. Beetroot (pre-soak seed), carrot, parsnip, potato and radish can be sown directly into beds."

As our new garden is divided in two, we are considering a green manure crop as ironically suggested above. It will basically provide more organic matter to the soil and/or if we grow legumes (i.e. cow pea) will also provide nitrogen via the root nodes into the soil.

Check out this forecast for the week ... ouch!

Gympie 7-day Weather Forecast

Summary	Sun Jan 6		Mon Jan 7		Tue Jan 8		Wed Jan 9		Thu Jan 10		Fri Jan 11		Sat Jan 12
	Possible shower		Possible shower		Mostly sunny		Sunny		Late thunder		Mostly sunny		Possible shower
Maximum	31°C		32°C		32°C		38°C		38°C		37°C		36°C
Minimum	19°C		19°C		19°C		19°C		21°C		21°C		21°C
Chance of Rain	70%		50%		5%		10%		60%		30%		80%
Rain Amount	1-5mm		< 1mm		< 1mm		1-5mm		5-10mm		< 1mm		1-5mm
UV Index	Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme