Nov 2013

A very wet month is November, my area alone has had close to 90mm in 3 weeks. The ground is struggling to hold any more water an my backyard, as it has a slight angle on it, it does drain from the top down to my dry grass area on a retaining wall, which drains a little to well. We kind of recently installed a gutter on our pergola (why one was not already there I don't know) and fixed some drainage issues but not enough it seems to deal with the heavy delude we keep getting. This time of year the rain is FAT FAT drops.

In amongst all the rain I have managed tone quite productive. I have planted two different aubergine; Bonica & Mini Lebanese, the Bonica. Also planted was a Bush Crop cucumber as well as a mixed Sweet capsicum, green lettuce of a mystery variety and some sunflower seeds.

The tomatoes I planted are already flowering but I have picked most to get it to get strong stems.

My carrots are getting close to pulling and look great & so lush, I just with I could eat the greens from them. I have looked up what to do with them and composting seems to be the best solution.

Photo's below of corn, beans & sweet pea planted a while ago as well as my red cabbage, Thai chilli plant as well as seedlings planted this month.

I picked about 250 grams of chilli and topped the stems off, and blended with 150 grams coarse salt. Topped up with 250 grams rock salt and placed in glass jars to be used for cooking. Instant Chilli Salt
Enjoy

Oct 2013

October was a rather uneventful month in the garden for me. I planted two Tomato plants; Heirloom Orange and Black Russian. I tossed in some beetroot seeds for the second time in as many months and they too failed dismally. My marigolds are coming along nicely and should be flowering shortly. I pulled up my sugar snap peas as they were not doing so well and have prepared that area for spring/summer planting.

I have yet to decide what to plant I have just under 2SQ metres of space for veg for spring and summer, decisions. The mini white Cabbage that I planted are about 50% successful, It appears every second one is sacrificing it self for the one next to it. I have been diligently plucking of the green caterpillars and feeding them to the local birds. I planted six and will only be able to harvest two. One of which I have already eaten, made coleslaw. So now I have one left. I am unsure if I will grown cabbage again, at least white. It takes up a lot of room even the mini ones.

Here is a photo of one that gave it's life so another could live.

Sept 2013

September was a lovely month for some spring planting & more veggie bed preparation. A good lot of weeding and pruning was also had, with my new toy.

Along handled electric (corded) hedge trimmer; from you guessed it Bunning's the Ozito PHT410. It has a length of 2M, however the handle is solid and does not retract. Which is fine as it is quite sturdy. The head adjusts depending on what angle you need. I still had to use a small step ladder to get the top of my Star Jasmine to get it flat. For my first try at hedging with an electric implement I was pretty happy with the job overall.

I planted Sweet Corn and Butter Beans, I may have planted them a little to close, well actually in amongst each other. To use the corn as stabilisers for the beans.

I had Sweet Pea seeds so in they went as well, around the edge of the garden bed, nears the corn & beans. Too bring a little colour to the veggie bed. Can not wait for those to flower.

My little green friend the frog has returned this year which is nice to see, I was wondering where he got to. He has grown a bit and is living in my Swiss Chard. One must be careful when harvesting the Chard not to chop the frog.

My Snapdragon seeds I planted have not produced so much as a leaf. Might have to buy some already in a seedling tray.