dear diary: 25th October

WEATHER:

Hot hot hot. 31C on Wednesday. I did water nearly everything, including the composts. I'll do another water early tomorrow morning.

Then it cools later in the week and even rains. It's supposed to be rainy on Thursday and Friday

CHOOKS:

Laying. About 4 eggs every 3 days. Goong finally got off the broody after being a PITA for three weeks. Looks like Chouquette has begun laying although we haven't actually caught her at it.

They're getting a bit restless at not being allowed out into the lawn. I keep on intending to let them at the HEXABED patch in the backyard, but it requires adequate fences or else they'll just run amok and I really don't want that - especially before the trail.

OSBERVATIONS

Rats. We gots 'em again. *sigh* Might need to get some of that natural poison.

FRONT LOUNGE WINDOW: the ground in front of there is not doing well. I planted meadowflowers and they're not really taking - most likely the lack of heat, food, and the chooks getting in there and digging them up in late winter. *grumble* I need to work out what to do here. Except that it's probably too late to do so, because we're heading for summer and there's no letting up.

PREPARATION:

For the SEGT? I feel vastly inadequate, frankly. The backyard is probably fine (mostly, although the CREPE-APRICOT really needs to be planted out with *something*) but the front yard is a confused mess of everything.

I did do some sorting out of the composting bay. Still need to get some fronts on the bays, also sort out the plastic roofing (will probably need to cut them down to size).

PLANTING

Planted all the MELONS and PUMPKINS, the Honey and Cream F1 CORN, a bunch of PEAS (blue butterfly, and, I think, pigeon, although they don't look very pigeon like). Also: RADISH, and I think a bunch of ONIONS and LEEKs but not entirely certain. I didn't label them. Again. UGH.

I have to work out where the melons and pumpkins are going.

FEEDING

Need to feed the TOMATOES in the AVO-SHED and the CORN in the CREPE-APRICOT.

HARVEST

Still harvesting AVOCADOES. In fact that's becoming something of a priority, because the damn thing is beginning to drop them - most likely to make way for the next generation of fruit...

PRUNING

Plum needs more pruning, I think the Dual Stone does, too - the branches on the nectarine side are getting out of hand, even inside the netting..

THOUGHTS

I'm thinking. What if the movable vegepods went down to the south-west corner of the garden? They wouldn't take up too much space, I could put things in them that take a long time to grow (onions, carrots, etc.) and they wouldn't need tending and wouldn't take up all the space in the carport.

Now the really tricksy question: how to actually get them down there.

I'm actually very bad at fertilising my garden - that is, adding worm wee, seasol, seaweed brew, weed tea, biosol, etc. I just forget, or occasionally toss a heap on. Probably not great for the soil or the plants. My plants grow pretty well, sure, but not fantastically.

What if I made it into a routine? Wormwee this phase of the moon, seasol/seaweed next phase, weed tea phase after, biosol after that...

TO DO:

1. make the seats
2. finish off the redo of the chicken tractor
3. net the HEXABED
4. Move VEGEPODS
5. fertilise EVERYTHING
6. Plant out CREPE-APRICOT
7. Plant out APRICOT with spinaches/lettuces