Dear Diary: quiet week

It seems La Nina is going to hang around for a couple of months - probably until May. By the time it moves on, then we're likely to have hit 'winter' in Sydney, which is...rain and grey days and temps under 20C... So they say the first good stretch of clear days is unlikely to be until around August.

That's a fair clip away. Guess we'll be dealing with mould growing on everything in the house for a while yet.

CHOOKS

I need to put a roof on the far chook pen, give them somewhere dryish in the rain. It won't hold out in the full blown downpour that we've been having, but it seems that this damp and rainy is going to go on for months.

I sprayed the coop with Coopex (permethrin) and while I'm quite satisfied with the results (omg, all the mites, holy cow) it's a little daunting to realise just how bad the mite problem was. It's also made me resolve to never do another wooden coop. Metal coops/sheds all the way from hereon in! I should probably spray the small triangle coop, too. The main issue with the permethrin is that apparently it doesn't break down which...is a bit worrying!

PLANNING for PLANTING

Garlic
Onions
carrots
beetroot
leeks
broccoli
potatoes

I haven't actually done any winter prep. Been too busy trying to manage the bug situation.

PRUNING AND SPRAYING

Majorly carved down the DUAL PLUM and the 4-APPLE, but I think the DONUT PEACH still needs work and possibly the AVOCADO. There's a 'chipper day' up in Westleigh where you can take your branches for chipping and even get the chips back. I kind of wish they had one like Ryde council does, which is where you put out your stuff for chipping and they bring the chipping machine around and give you the chips back. So much more convenient. I have a lot of material to get chipped...

Going to need a decent break in the weather to get the copper sulfate and lime sulfate spraying done.

HARVEST

A few tomatoes, nice and big, if not pretty.

NOTES