The New Year Begins

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 2:01:2010:

The Greens in the Wicking Boxes grew well in the heat
so hopefully we will have some fresh greens soon!

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 11.3C
Lowest Max 24C
Highest Max 38C
No Recorded Rainfall

What's the weather been like in the garden?

As it warmed up this week we had 3 days of over 36 degrees but the cool change on Friday night brought relief but no rain.

Extra shade was attached to the western sides of growing beds as well as over any newly planted or emerging seedlings.

The heat sparked a growth spurt in the Comfrey
which seems to enjoy life under the 75% shadecloth cover.
You can see the sun scorch on the older leaves.

Rockmelons also put on growth
and the Gourd seedlings took off,
safe with their little protectors in place.

Propagation:
Seeds:

• Cosmos 'Seashell Mix' Cosmos bipinnatus
• Beetroot Golden Detroit Beta vulgaris
• Mangelwurzel Beta vulgaris
• These went into punnets and pots in the propagation area under shadecloth.

Potting up:
Into punnets:

• Lettuce Gold Rush
• Celtuce
• Basil Lettuce Leaf
• Basil sweet Genovese
• Kale Morton's Mix
• Kale Squire

Put under 75% shadecloth until settled,
then moved to 50% shade.

Potted on:

Strawberry Guava
(seedlings from the home saved seed!)

Basil Lettuce Leaf

Malabar Spinach -
green and red stemmed

Free from the Garden:

• Dug up seedling Catmint Nepeta mussinii plants that were popping up in the Strawberry tank bed.
• Collected Tagasaste seeds from the popping pods!
• Borage is sprouting in the Dog Pen Beds, I use these seedlings as mulch around the tomato plants there.
• Borage was listed on Food'n'Stuff's Dynamic Accumulators post recently!
• The list suggests it is an accumulator of Sulphur and Potassium.

New in the Garden This week:

This years Trees For Life plantings
sprout new seedlings with each cool change!

The Old Man Saltbush
I'm growing on for the Community Garden
has taken off after the addition
of some slow release native plant food!

Rockmelons are volunteering in Bed 1
in the Main Vegetable Garden.

Cucumbers (Marketmore) nearly ready!

Weekly Harvest Tally:

Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.

• Carrot***119g
• Parsnip***120g
• Apricots***4980g all dried.

Eggs

• 10 from the Farmyard Ferals
• 0 from the Ginger Girls
• 1 from Blackie

Anise Hyssop Agastache foeniculum in bloom

in the Strawberry Tank Bed.

To see the various Garden areas on our half acre block check out the newest "Map of our place" HERE

A Second Spring???

Scarecrow's Log: 29:11:2009:

The Black Sultana Grapes on the back pergola
have survived the heat
and are filling out nicely with the rain.

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 8.8C
Lowest Max 19.5C
Highest Max 30.4C
18mm Rain

Milder temperatures, chilly at times, with some rain and very strong winds have been a feature of this week...sounds like a second chance at spring...maybe!

What's happening in the garden?
We have been settling in those new little chicks.

They have had their first dust baths, love anything green and they didn't need any training to devour their daily feast of collected earwigs!!!

It's great to see these tiny little chicks jumping after the pesky grasshoppers too...I can't wait to let them loose in the veg patch.

The daily load of earwigs...

...being devoured!!!

The fruit trees have set fruit and it is developing well and hanging on during the strong wind storms.

No sign yet of the cherries splitting
with the rain we have been getting!

The Apples are looking good!

I have let a few Purple Dragon carrots flower
in the hope of collecting some seed from them.

The Jerusalem Artichokes along the new chook fence
are growing rapidly
and should provide some welcome shelter soon!

Propagation:
Seeds:

• Acacia aneura - Mulga from Chris at Under the Mulberry Tree in Alice Springs (thank you)
• Acacia dealbata - Silver Wattle from Cornucopia Seeds via Tully (thank you)
• Acacia decurrens - Black Wattle from Cornucopia Seeds
• Albizia julibrissin - Pink Silk Tree from Cornucopia Seeds
• Billardiera scandems - Appleberry from Outback Chef
• Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea from Cornucopia Seeds
• Georgina's Yam from Tully
• Nitraria billardieri - Nitre Bush from Outback Chef
• Ocimum tenuiflorum syn sanctum - Native Thyme from Outback Chef - this sounds more like a Basil to me
• Psidium cattleianum var. lucidum - Cherry Guava - Yellow from Green Harvest
• Rhagodia parabolica Fragrant/mealy saltbush - home saved seeds
• Scaevola spinescens - Native Current Bush from Outback Chef
• Tamarindu indica - Tamarind from Green Harvest (thank you Tully )
• Tasmannia lanceolata - Mountain Pepper from Outback Chef

Trees For Life planting 1 box of *Acacia hakeoides - Hakea Wattle
* = seeds were soaked overnight in just boiled water to aid germination
+ = seeds were scarified, lightly scratched with fine sandpaper to assist germination.

Planting out:
Some yellow Yarrow into the compost bed.

New in the Garden This week:

On a sad note one of our windbreak trees in the front garden came down in a wind storm last week. We had to get the power company out to re-attach the power line that was left dangling (but still connected to the house).

I now have to cut my way through all the branches to see if the tiny trees/shrubs recently planted below it have survived. This tree was a favourite of birds on hot days with the bath beneath it.

We shall miss it.

A crater a metre deep has been left behind!

Weekly Harvest Tally:

Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.

• Strawberries***30g
• Loganberries***100g

Plus a yummy mix of greens for soups/stirfries/salads...Kale, Lebanese Watercress, Chives, Parsley, Sea Parsley.

Eggs

• 11 from the Farmyard Ferals
• 2 from the remaining 4 Ginger Girls (2 died in the heatwave )
• 2 from Blackie

Real Duck Weather

Scarecrow's Log: 04:10:2009:

The ducks around town loved the rain this week!

At a local park...

Any puddle will do...

But no ducks in our driveway puddles!

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 0.6C
Lowest Max 12.8C
Highest Max 27C
28.5mm Rainfall

What's happening in the garden?
Lots of new growth with the rain...

The overgrown Strawberry Tank bed...

...that was 'tidied' (or butchered )
back on 19 Aug 09...

...has put on new growth
and there are flowers on the Strawberries!

The Rosemary hedge around the Kitchen Garden
is looking smart with it's new growth.

Propagation:
Potting up:

• Basil Genovese Ocimum basilicum 'Genovese' 24 in a cell tray, 3 punnets, 5 pots
• Basil Lettuce Leaf Ocimum basilicum 5 pots, 2 punnets
• Basil Purple Ocimum basilicum cv purpurascens 5 into a cell tray
• Chamomile Dyers Anthemis tinctoria 4 pots
• Cosmos Sunny Yellow Cosmos bipinnatus 1 punnet
• Cucumber Cucumis sativus Italian Non-Acid the only 1 that came up!
• Sage Grandfather's Salvia apiana 7 pots
• Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Yellow Baby Pear 20 into a cell tray
• Tooth Ache Plant Spilanthes acmella 6 pots
• Valerian Valerian officinalis 2 punnets
• Zinnia Zinnia elegans 11 into loo rolls
• Zucchini - Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo
• Black 6 into pots
• Golden 6 in pots and 1 punnet
• Romanesco 7 into pots

The Basil Genovese seedlings
(with Cosmos in front) potted up.

Cuttings:
Lemon Verbena Aloysia triphylla
Pink Marguerite Daisy Argyranthemum frutescens
Sage Purple Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens'
Sage Golden Salvia officinalis aurea
Scented Geraniums/Pelargoniums -

• Lemon Pelargonium crispum
• Orange Pelargonium citrosum
• Nutmeg Pelargonium fragrans

Silver Lace/Feather Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum

Division:

• Chives Allium schoenoprasum
• French Tarragon Artemisia dracunculus sativa
• Native Violet Viola hederacea
• Society Garlic Variegated Tulbaghia violacea 'Variegata'

New in the Garden This week:

I'm waiting impatiently to plant out the spring veg! With morning temps still down around 0C all next week it won't be happening any time soon.

Mid October is usually my planting-out time but I'm ready to wait longer if necessary. The soil will be too cold for any significant growth while the night temps are so low. The seedlings are happy enough in the hot house...but it's getting a bit crowded in there!

Early growth on the tuber plants...
the Yacon Polymnia sonchifolia
is well on it's way ready for
planting in the garden soon.

The Ida Gold Cherry Tomatoes are ripening.

Outside in the garden
the Blue Bantam Dwarf Peas,
in Tank Bed C, are setting pods.

Weekly Harvest Tally:

Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.

No weighing this week, we've been busy and eating out of the freezer after last weekend's 'cook-up'.

Plus 1 Egg from the Ginger Girls (who don't like rain ) and 22 Eggs from the Farmyard Ferals.

Flowers Everywhere!

Scarecrow's Log: 20:09:2009:

It's time for the cherry tree to bloom!

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min -2.3C
Lowest Max 15.6C
Highest Max 25.6C
13mm Rainfall

What's happening in the garden?

The Broad Beans (Peruvian Emerald) in Bed 1 are setting many pods. I nipped off the top growth of each plant recently and now the plants can put all of their energy into making beans and not just flowers!

The Blue Bantam Dwarf Peas in the Tank Bed C
now have a plastic trellis to climb on
and are starting to flower.

Surprise, surprise tiny Ida Gold Tomato seedlings
are popping up in the Tank bed!

In the Kitchen Garden the Nasturtiums
have survived the winter and are now flowering.

The Pond Edge flowering bed
is covered with bright daisy flowers...
...the bees and beneficial insects are everywhere.

Rock Rose, Californian Poppy,
Iris and Pink Evening Primrose,
are all in flower now.

Propagation:
Seeds:

More seeds of Carrot Chantenay Red-Cored
and Parsnips Hollow Crown
have gone into Bed 3
Seedlings from the earlier planting
are up and growing. See insets.

Potting on and tidied up:

• Feverfew Tanacetum parthenium
• Yellow Daisy Euryops pectinatus
• Pink Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis 'Pink'
• Felicia amelloides Variegated
• Pink Violets Viola odorata rosea
• Dusty Miller Centaurea gymnocarpa
• Ready for the markets

Planting out:

• Midyim Berry Austromyrtus dulcis
• Muntries Kunzea pomifera
• Native Hibiscus Hibiscus heterophyllus
• In the Bushfood Bed

Cuttings/Division:

• Took some cuttings from some Gazanias we dug up from a friends driveway.
• Wormwood Artemisia arborescens to give to the same friends for their chicken run.
• Moroccan Mint Mentha spicata 'Moroccan Mint'
• Egyptian Mint Mentha niliaca

New in the Garden This week:

First fruits are setting on the Apricots and Plums.
They are hanging on despite the winds storms
we are experiencing this year.

The Pear trees are in full bloom
and the Apples are just beginning to flower.

The Grapevines are in leaf
and showing signs of flowering.

Weekly Harvest Tally:

• Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
• Carrots Atomic Red***124g
• Broad Beans Peruvian Emerald***150g
• Broccoli***200g
• Jerusalem Artichokes***1200g (sold at the markets)
• Water Chestnuts***250g

Plus a yummy mix of greens for soups/stirfries/salads...Kale, Lettuce, Lebanese Cress, Watercress, Chives, Parsley, Sea Parsley, Beetroot Greens.

Plus 5 Eggs from the Ginger Girls and 29 from the Farmyard Ferals.