06 December, 2014

composts and other things

Eggbox seedlings are doing okay - at least, the tomatoes and zucchini and one of the watermelons are:

eggbox seedlings

All those little seedlings? Tomatoes. Different types - from the black russian to the yellow pears - but tomatoes. None of the chillis. None of the eggplant. None of the capsicum. ARGH. I can't work out how to get the eggplant or capsicum seeds to germinate, but I'm going to try again. This time with really fine seed-raising mix (sand and sifted cow manure), and making sure that the seeds don't dry out.

Like the corn, both the sunflowers and the bean seeds are happily germinating away. I'm tempted to try peas, but I think they're supposed to be for later in the season?

bean seeds

I did end up buying a bunch of seedlings from Big Hardware Chain Of Doom. Not ideal. But I need a kickstart this year due to delayed planting. And the compost heaps are going great guns, so I have plenty of space for planting things.

four beds

You can see the two newest compost piles in the background: one covered with heshen, the other one just covered with straw. They're both still warm, so composting is happening, although they're cooling down a little. I'll turn Bed #3 and plant it out with various seedlings on Sunday night or Monday evening.

Another look at the compost heaps - with a better glance at Bed #1.

three beds

As you can see, the corn has really taken off, and is going to need a handful of vermicast per stalk before long. Except the worms aren't doing a particularly good job of making vermicast right now. It's a bit frustrating.

Maybe blending up the food before feeding it to the worms is the best way to go?

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