Retrospective for 2024

VEGIES

Late autumn and through the winter, I did well with the PUMPKINS, AVOCADOES, GINGER, LEAFY GREENS (particularly the ones which had been planted last winter). The TOMATOES in the small vegepod (on the path) did fine through the winter, although they really came into their own come spring.

The early flush of spring TOMATOES and the midsummer CORN (which I've just harvested) was wild. The LEAFY GREENS did well during this period too (backyard bathtub).

TOMATOES planted in spring according to the timetable of Anthony of Sydney Backyard Veggies did okay, but the tomatoes I expected to be Roma turned out to be something else (a bulbuous determinate type). They were super-tasty for salads and what, but they weren't Roma!

The early CORN (planted mid-July) grew and produced, but it wasn't very impressive – very short. I tried planting them in the middle of a 'clover lawn', trimming down the clover os they'd get the necessary nutrients, but they weren't impressed. They were also irregularly watered A ZUCCHINI and a CUCUMBER planted around the same time and in the same bed didn't get anywhere.

First sets of BEANS did okay, but not great. But also: I don't really like beans fresh, unless they're snake beans. (And all the SNAKE BEANS died this year.) So I'm growing them for storage over winter, and I think I need to pick a better variety and have better harvest management for them.

GARLIC was a complete loss. Seemed to grow well at first, but then developed black aphids and the bulbs were tiny. (Although they do seem to store very well out of the fridge.)

Only one EGGPLANT that I planted in mid-July and planted out around September. It's only just produced fruit. I feel like I should feed it again, hm.

The second round of CORN I planted got planted out into the Vegepod and supercharged. It was absolutely nuts. Variety was 'silvermine' (heirloom) and the stalks grew to 1.8m tall easy. At least one cob per stalk, some of them two.

A ZUCCHINI planted in the vegepod bed with the CORN didn't do well. A couple of TOMATOES (yellow variety, round and fly-resistant) did well, and there's a 'moon and stars' MELON doing okay in the back, along with a bunch of SWEET PEAS (although they're growing well, they're not really blooming much.)

Galeaux d'Eysines PUMPKIN has already produced one and is working out another.

I bought CUCUMBERS from Bunnings, and a BASIL from Harris Farm and planted them out; both are doing fine so far.

At every turn of this year (and all the previous ones), the attempts to grow POTATOES to a decent size has failed.

FRUIT TREES

The usual run of PEACHES and NECTARINES were solid, although less productive than usual after a big prune year. That said, I could actually manage the harvest which was a nice change. Still, I might take a leaf out of M&K's book and run a 'harvest day' in 2025 for the nectarines and peaches: picking and processing.

APRICOTS flowered a little but not much. I don't think they had long enough in the ground, or the right conditions. At least, I guess that's what happened, I'm not entirely sure. A few teeny tiny fruit that promptly fell off.

MANGO flowered in mid-spring and had small fruit on it, but they vanished at some point, and I suspect the birds got them. 2025, I will put a cover on the instant the fruit sets.

Again, the DONUT PEACH didn't do so well: I don't know if it needs more pruning or different conditions to fruit successfully.

PLUMS – in the (formerly) DUAL PLUM there were lots of flowers,a couple of fruit set, but not much else. The (formerly) FOUR STONE PLUM had a decent crop, but they mostly fell to fruit fly.

APPLES: the crops of apples in early 2024 – Delicious and Gala - weren't fantastic, just okay. I think they were left on the tree too long and went floury, but I don't know how to stop this. I need to work out when they're ready to pick and maybe store. And if so, how to store.

The Golden Dorset apples (late in the year, early in the season) were pretty good. I think I got about 10 of them, between rats and whatnot.

The FOUR APPLE didn't even get its flowers out. There's something eating its branches and leaves in the back and I don't know what. Maybe I need to net it and give it a chance to grow? IDK.

Finally, the CHERRY was entirely a loss. I now have a SOUR CHERRY that mum gave me, but I have to work out where to put it. It's a big question right now – does it need the kind of chill hours that the CHERRY needs (and didn't get)?

I have two FIGS, an APRICOT, a BLACK SAPOTE, a KUMQUAT, an ICE CREAM BEAN, a WHITE SAPOTE, and possibly a LONGAN to plant, with a LYCHEE on the way.

My inclination is to make another 'orchard' along the chook yard fence line, that will both shade the chook yard in summer and provide somewhere to hang netting.

RASPBERRIES did okay, although in the midst of the hot dry months we had of November and December, they could have done with regular watering. Maybe this year, I need to tell my sisters to pour out one bucket of water into the raspberry bed every time we do a wash when it's hot and dry.

And the BANANA has finally produced a bunch.

>

GARDEN FIXTURES

Daofu compost

woodchip compost

woodchip paths

major trim of most fruit trees

Dear Diary: 17th January

OBSERVATIONS:

It's January, things are hot and wet and growing.

Hot hot hot hot hot all the way through Christmas - on some days absolutely boiling - up to 40C. And then just about a week ago, the cool weather broke, and we had some lovely lovely rain. The next two weeks is going to be rainy, but still warm – between 20-30C daytime temperatures – but scattered showers.

Excellent growing time.

EDIT: It was reasonable growing time. The problem was that we've had a couple of storms. BIG ones. The kind that knock over the corn and mean you end up harvesting somewhat earlier than expected...

CHOOKS:

Chooks are all good, Siyao, Kerry, and Gladys are all laying. Goong is broody, and neither Haamyu nor Carambah should be laying, although if we don't replace the implants, they're likely to start up again shortly.

They've been allowed back into the TRIANGLE ORCHARD again and at least one of them keeps getting out and destroying the garden bed I set up for potatoes, so...no potatoes this year, I fear! DAMMIT.

COMPOST:

I turned and remade a compost, and it's about 50C, which is not pathogen-levels, but should be good enough for the purposes of decomposing pretty fast.

PREPARING:

Nothing prepared, really. It's mostly been harvesting.

SEEDS:

CABBAGE - Red Acre (2 rows), Golden Acre, Early (2 rows)
BEANS - Burgundy?

Also tossed a bunch of seeds out through the garden beds so they can start growing over the next couple of weeks during the rain.
LEEKS, BEETROOT, 'HORTA' (that's not the name, but I can't remember it), and a bunch of other seeds.

eta: they nearly died during the CRAZY HOT day we had on Monday 13th but I might have managed to save most of them

PLANTING OUT:

EGGPLANTS from...IDK. October? I didn't plant all of them out, mostly because I knew that if I did, they'd all die on me. So right now, we're looking at two weeks rain, so I figure it's safe.

HARVEST:

CORN is in full prep. I think I'm going to need to pick them, cut up, and freeze them. Maybe on Sunday when things are quiet.

I got all of eight DONUT PEACHES after netting and pruning the tree. I think I need to prune it harder – much shorter, and maybe feed it too?

Need to check the SOY BEANS.

FEEDING:

Haven't been feeding anything properly. Really need to.

PRUNING:

want to prune list:
- DONUT PEACH
- FOUR STONE
- DUAL PLUM
- CHERRY
- DUAL STONE

THOUGHTS:

I have PARSNIP that is actually setting seed under the FOUR APPLE. Unfortunately, the FOUR APPLE itself is doing badly. I'm going to need to put a growing frame in this year for espalier purposes because if I don't, then I'll probably never get a crop of anything.

Bought some F1 seeds that are heat resistant, while also growing seed-saving heirlooms and working to get a better crop from them in increasingly hot temperatures.

BROCCOLI: aurora for winter (400), Monty for summer (40)
CAULIFLOWER: di bassano (100) for winter-spring, Serenity (15) for summer
WOMBOK: matilda (40 seeds) 
CARROT: Kuroda (1000 seeds) for warm season
(Actually, some of the seeds are heirloom, not F1, and I can grow from them. I got fewer seeds, but the goal is to be able to plant them out ASAP.)

The beds under the PERSIMMON (both sides) are going to have to be pulled out and rebuilt, most likely as wicking beds, and not in the same places. I'd want to move one bed out to where the APPLE ESPALIER is.

Ideally, I'd like to remove the VEGEPOD and set up the space next to the driveway for growing things in the winter and spring (in particular) maybe set it to clover and meadow in the summer? I still want the VEGEPOD on the front verge, but getting the locals to interact with it? THat's another level of involvement and engagement. Most people don't want to do anything other than the convenient option; so it's not unexpected. Just...not comfortable.

Dear Diary: HEATWAVE - 20th December

OBSERVATIONS:

It's been a few weeks of crazy hot. Some things have survived (and thrived) others...have not.

Things that have thrived: the CORN in the vegepod, likewise the TOMATOES and ZUCCHINI. The MELON (moon and stars) is still growing (which is a miracle in and of itself) and while the SWEET PEAS aren't exactly flowering, they're still growing, too.

Interestingly, the CORN in the clover did okay, but not great. I wonder if it didn't get enough water, and that's why it didn't grow very much? The TOMATOES that I planted out under the DUAL STONE also didn't grow very much before fruiting – a decent crop but not the huge plants I was expecting.

The MANGO lost all its fruit – I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect that the local birds picked it all off. Next year, as soon as it sets fruit, the netting goes on! But beneath it, the DAHLIAS are blooming quite nicely!

And I have BANANAS! This is new, never had a bunch before! Need to cover them over before too long or the bird might destroy them!

CHOOKS:

One of our chooks has left us – unexpectedly, it was not Haamyu the black one who was sick the last time I wrote in here, but Daofu, her white counterpart, who got a cancerous growth in her belly and had to be put down. She is now safely composting for the next year in a compost bin that's well away from any of the usual spaces where anything is likely to dig her up. (Except the rats. And they can take their chances!)

Otherwise, the two little girls are laying (Kerry and Gladys) like clockwork – we probably won't have them for more than another year or two before their bodies give up. Goong was broody through most of November, then came off it, laid for about two weeks and is about to go broody again. Instead, Siyao went broody through the early half of December – she's never gone broody before, so that was very unexpected!

I need to move the chooks to the TRIANGLE ORCHARD and the driveway space so they dig around there and peck everything down. Even scratch a few things up where possible. Also, get at the fruit flies that are more or less decimating my tomatoes and which will probably also get to the PERSIMMONS. So many things to do, so little time.

a slightly bedraggled Kerry - she's the bottom of the pecking order!

COMPOST:

The compost I had my garden helper assist me in building got to 50C and stuck there for at least a week. It was fully active until I went away at the start of December and when I came back it had cooled some.

I should probably rebuild it, turning it over and incorporating a whole heap of shredded comfrey leaves. Right now, I'm digging it out, but I can still make out some of the components which isn't the best. But the main issue with rebuilding it is that it takes time, energy, and a strong back, and mine is rapidly going.

PREPARING:

The chook tractor is still on the CREPE-LYCHEE (I don't know what to call this bed), and I need to take it off and move it elsewhere for the girls to use for a while.

I need to set up the APRICOT/LYCHEE bed for receipt of the next tree (attempt).

Trees I have to plant:
APRICOT
BLACK SAPOTE
WHITE SAPOTE
ICE CREAM BEAN
KUMQUAT
SOUR CHERRY
CAMELLIA SINENSIS (bush)
UNKNOWN (sincerely, I can't remember, I'm terrible with labelling)

SEEDING:

I need to sow more mixes – leafies and roots, mostly. I haven't been terribly assiduous about it, and with the uneven hot days, it's been difficult to get things growing before a heatwave comes along and burns it to the ground.

Maybe put down some soil, plant the seeds and water in, cover with about an inch of pea mulch. Would that be enough to give it the insulation it needs against the crazy heat? Maybe...

PLANTING OUT:

GINGER in the small VEGEPOD, behind the tomatoes. Maybe I should plant another of the MELONS? I don't know which go where and I've never been very lucky with melons, but if I went with one of the warpaints, maybe? Do I still have melon seeds?

HARVEST:

TOMATOES in great numbers. The first round of CORN was eaten. Some BEANS – I think they're a butter bean. I also have some dragon's tongue BEANS that are doing nicely. Hopefully at some point, we'll get EGGPLANTS, but the single one I've gotten to fruiting stage is not looking very good with the recent heatwaves.

RASPBERRIES and STRAWBERRIES and ALPINE STRAWBERRIES are all regularly fruiting. Not much, but it doesn't have to be much – just one or two a day and we're good.

At some point there'll be a PUMPKIN – the Galeaux D'Eysines it definitely is: that pink and warty look that's so typical of the type!

FEEDING:

CORN again, maybe TOMATOES. Do the POTATOES need any?

Maybe if I fed the back beds, they might do better? But also, they need more regular watering, I think... I don't know how to do that more regularly, unless it's mulching them pretty heavily so they have a chance to properly set roots before a heatwave comes along...

PRUNING:

Both the DUAL PLUM and the FOUR-STONE and the CHERRY and the DONUT PEACH need some serious trimming down in January or February, and then shredding the rest.

Next year, I need to trim down the PERSIMMON significantly – it's shading out the rest of the bed. If I can do it after the harvest at the end of summer, that would probably be best.

THOUGHTS:

With everything looking the way it is in the world right now, I sincerely don't think we're going to conquer climate change. It takes too much will, too much effort, and too many people are caught in the money trap. Most of those with the capacity to believe that we're changing the way the planet works aren't willing to change anything so long as they don't.

Basically, I believe we're screwed.

So my job on this property is both to pay off the mortgage so it's ours in title and deed, free of the bank – which I can do in the next two years if my current job holds.

Extensions are never going to happen. I've settled with that. I wish we could afford some house improvements - get rid of the asbestos, insulate, and replace the fake weatherboard with real wood weatherboard. But that'll take way more money than we have, although if I could hold this job for another five years, then we might have the money – but who knows where the market will be by then?

Energy wise, we need to get on a solar battery ASAP. Preferably two. I should check in with a friend who I think does something related to solar community... I mailed him about it maybe five, six years ago when I first heard what he did. Need to go back and re-read those; I wasn't in the space to parse it all then, I kind of am now.

The other job I have is to maximise food production, which is going to be a lot more difficult. Limestone Permaculture manage it, and they have a knowledgeable and committed couple and their daughter on an acre of land, with a community both locally and more broadly. We have some starches – the taro is an excellent starch through the winter, and I can kind of do potatoes and pumpkins – more starches. The eggs provide protein, although we're dependent on getting more chickens as they die off, and we're not slaughtering them. (They probably wouldn't be very big anyway. Meat birds are a very different proposition to layers.)

I have the knowledge, actually using it and refining it to make a regular harvest is another matter. That said, I'm pretty sure that we could produce enough basic calories to survive on this site; whether they would be useful and suitable and of sufficient variety? That's another matter.

Deep and depressing thoughts, I guess. I'm not giving up, and neither should anyone reading this, but realistically, we don't have the social/political will nor the awareness to see what's coming, let alone meet it on a social scale. Individual and small community will have to be it.

dear diary: getting warmer and fruitier

OBSERVATIONS:

So much to do, the weather is doing the 'starting to get warmer' thing which it should have done in September, but unfortunately ended up being a few crazy hot days that just wrecked everything.

Driveway TOMATOES are doing okay, but not great. They're fruiting, but they're not very large, almost more like bush tomatoes than indeterminate ones. Aso, I seem to have mixed in a CHERRY tomato with the ROMA ones, so.

Lots of little ant-flies on the chook manure I got from the Dural fruit shop. Heaps of them. They don't seem to be any particular damage, but there's a lot of them and I don't know what they do.

PEACHES. The golden ones are ripening a lot earlier than in previous years.

CHOOKS:

Haamyu is still hanging on, but she gets medicated every night and every morning, and so far as we can tell, she's still not back to normal. Just hanging on. Her face is dry and flaking, and B1 worries about her. I don't feel I have time or energy to worry about her.

Otherwise, Goong went broody again, it didn't feel as long this time. There's a lot of laying, although a couple of Siyao's eggs have a hole in them, we're not sure if somone pecked holes in them or it just so happened that she didn't make the shell properly.

Started mite-watering them after discovering lice and so forth on Haamyu, although that might also be because she's not dustbathing herself properly.

COMPOST:

Got garden assistant (Noah) to help me move the compost in the bays into a single bay, and it's hit about 50C heat, so that's good. Some stuff going on in the middle.

PREPARING:

Set down woodchips around the MANGO, the PERSIMMON, and dumped a load of euchy mulch under the CITRUS and near the DUAL STONE.

Need to work out where the rest of the chook manure bags should go, along with the remainder of the chip mulch. (Unless I plan to make another compost with the chook manure, the horse manure, the chip mulch, and the spent coffee grounds. Maybe if I add the composting leafmulch to it? I mean, I could, maybe? But in what? Try the old black square composter by the fence?)

SEEDING:

A seed mix in the BATHTUB garden in the back: BEETROOT: golden detroit, LEEK: autumn giant, american flag, LETTUCE: cimmaron, BASIL: sweet italiano classico, CARROT: sprouting.

I think I should plant more:
CAPSICUM
EGGPLANT

PLANTING OUT:

In the APPLE-CREPE:
CORN (several died with the heatwave we had a day or two after)
CAPSICUM (seems to have died, likely due to heatwave)
TOMATOES (black cherry, perhaps? Or just randoms?)
CUCUMBER (or possibly a melon or zucchini, but I think it's a cuke)

Potato bed:

1. Pulled the garlic - black aphids mean they didn't get very far. Try again next year, but maybe look at better aphid control? (how to deal with other than by spray)
2. Pulled out the mint roots as best I could
3. Added chook manure
4. Dug a hole, put the long pot of potatoes in
5. Added more chook manure and the Marvel Black mix (from Bunnings)
6. rolled potatoes onto their side (away from driveway) and covered with soil dug up from the driveway side of the bed
7. Did Edge-in-situ composting (comfrey, nettles, chookpoop) along driveway side of bed
8. Watered in
9. Covered with pea straw

Planted some lettuces in PLUM-STONE, also some beets/carrots/others in BATHTUB and in APPLE-CREPE

HARVEST:

Last few avocadoes, but the peaches are in full form. That's going to be a little crazy in the coming days.

Pulled the GARLIC, it was vastly inadequate to the effort I put in, and the black aphids had eaten most of them. I've picked two lots, got the black box and the ones up the back of one of the vegepods to do. I think the ones in the vegepod might end up being the best of the lot.

BEANS from the BUSH BEANS (mistakenly thought to be POLE BEANS) in the back of the AVO-SHED

CORN has pollination stems, but not much by way of cobs and silks. I've saved some of the pollen, but I may need to save some more early morning.

Small Vegepod TOMATOES are growing and ripening well.

And, of course, the fruit trees:

FEEDING:

I've fed the CORN, the MANGO tree, the 2 small VEGEPODS, the back

STAKING & PROTECTING:

Staked the TOMATOES in the PLUM-STONE bed, and pruned them down. They're just going into flowers.

Should probably check the GOLDEN DORSET apples, also whether the other apples are setting fruit. Not sure about that right now, they don't look great.

PLANNING:

Need to better work out the CREPE-APRICOT and what's going to go into it. The APRICOT died, so did the LYCHEE.

• Was it the soil? Something else?
• I could try putting the other apricot in? Prep the ground properly this time: loosen the soil, build it up, etc.
• Or plant something else entirely?
• That's a space that gets a lot of sun in summer but not much in winter down at ground level (once it's 1.5m high, it will get sunlight)
• Will get shaded by the avo in the midsummer (until it gets too large)
• If it needs feeding, it could be tricky to feed.

Plan would be:

• Test the soil - pH, etc.
• Build up the soil profile there.
• Gotta think about this - maybe consult with people.

THOUGHTS:

The AVO-SHED bed doesn't seem to do very well. No, I lie, the BEANS are doing well. Although it turns out what I thought were POLE BEANS are actually BUSH BEANS, and what I thought were BUSH BEANS turned out to be POLE BEANS, so there's that.

In the AVO-SHED is also the EGGPLANT which is...holding on. But not growing. I don't know if it needs better soil, more watering, richer nutrients or what. But its not much bigger than it was when I planted it and I don't know what's going on. Maybe the bed itself isn't great with nutrients? I can't tell.

I want to pull out the GARLIC bed (which currently has POTATOES in it) and relocate it to that section right between the APPLE ESPALIER and the DUAL STONE. Better sun, less shade than beneath the persimmon, and maybe better chances of growing things.

Dear Diary: 24th October

OBSERVATIONS:

After a brief 'heat wave' (summer temps in spring), we've had fairly 'spring' temps, but I think August was dry and hot, and September was working it out, and October's been...pretty good? More damp than I remember it being before. I think we need a bit more dry through November to concentrate the flavour of the stone fruit into the flesh. Hopefully we get it.

The PERSIMMON has gone from bare branches to full metal leafage in a matter of weeks. Plus fruit everywhere. I have no idea how I'm going to net it; it's going to be a job and a half and I'm not sure they make nets big enough! Have to think about this.

If I leave the TWO-STONE nectarines out much longer, I think they're going to mould, the way they always do (that variety is very prone to mould). So I might pick them this weekend and dry them in the food dryer as quarters and halves. Has to be done during the day, so hopefully there's sun on the weekend!

CHOOKS:

Sister noticed one of the chooks – Haamyu - wasn't doing so well earlier this week, and so she got taken to the vet. They didn't do a scan of her, but thought she might have some kind of inflammation, and so she's got antibiotics to help things along. It's a bit of a mess, though.

Goong's gone broody again.

Kerry's eye stye appears to be coming back, dammit.

I note that Kerry is usually grazing right up until dusk. I wonder if she's getting enough; she's the smallest of the chickens and scrawny, but seems to be a regular egg-layer. I'm thinking of spoiling her with high-energy mash, specially. (She's just so small and dainty, but in a beaten-and-bullied kind of way.)

Need to take the tractor off the APPLE-CREPE tree

COMPOST:

I dug out most of the right-hand bay and dumped it on the centre bay, along with a layer of woodchips that I chipped on Sunday. Don't think it's heated up, though. *sigh* I'm terrible at making compost.

PREPARING:

Put some pea straw down in the APPLE-CREPE with the tractor, then move it onto the CREPE-RHUBARB, but don't open it up to the chooks just yet. Wait until the LEAFY GREENS there have finished setting their seeds, then pluck the stems and let the chooks in.

APPLE-CREPE will be planted out with the CORN and the CAPSICUMS. But I need to put a couple of capsicums somewhere warmer.

SEEDING:

Sowed a 'Chicken Feed' mix from Mr. Fothergill's (Bunnings) beneath the lounge room windows, covered with a wire basket. It is now the NakedGardener Patch after a woman I follow on TikTok who burned herself with boiling water about a year ago, and posted that she was planting garlic today (she's in the northern hemisphere) not to remember the day, which she describes as the worst of her life, but to change the meaning of the day.

I also sowed a handful of brassicas for summer, very few of which are actually sprouting, alas. I don't know if it's too hot for them, or if they'd just taking their time, but the other day there were only two which had sprouted.

The CLOVER in front of the chook yards are doing nicely.

PLANTING OUT:

Still need to plant out CAPSICUMS, CORN, MELONS (I need to get these out soon!Actually, this weekend might be a good idea, because next weekend is going to be rainy), a couple of TOMATOES and...other stuff.

I also planted a WHITE SAPOTE under the JACARANDA, in part because I need to have a succession plan for that tree, because I don't want it there forever.

Oh boy, I need to work out where I can fit the GINGER. They did really really well in the vegepod, and I'm inclined to put them there again.

HARVEST:

DAMMIT. MY ONE APRICOT FELL OFF. I'm really pissed off about that; I have three apricot trees, and half the reason I got into growing things in the first place is because I have the fondest memories of the apricot tree that we grew in the backyard back in the 80s, and it gave the most amazing apricots. I haven't tasted anything like it in all that time; mostly because anyone who has an apricot tree is not about to give away their apricots. They're just too good.

Maybe I should go visit a friend out in Orange and see if they've got apricots.

Speaking of travelling out of town, I need to look at what's available to see in Tamworth.

Picking AVOCADOS once a week still.

I think the GARLIC is about to need harvesting. I need to look up when they are to be picked, and how to preserve them. Also: WHERE AM I GOING TO KEEP THEM, DAMMIT?

FEEDING:

I gave some epsom salts to...the BLUEBERRIES and a bunch of the other plants under the front lounge window, maybe a little to the vegepod tomatoes. And some more to the staked tomatoes and the plants in the driveway vegepod.

I think I fed the MANGO. Not sure what I fed it with, though.

I also made a weed tea with dandelions and other weeds from the front yard, soaking them in water until it's smelly, and I've been adding it to my watering buckets, so everything is getting a nice nutrient bath.

PRUNING/STAKING:

Finaly staked the TOMATO PATCH in the triangle garden. Also staked the tomatoes in the small vegepods.

I think I need to prune the APRICOT down. Possibly also the DUAL PLUM and maybe even the CHERRY. They need a nice big shock, something that will change the fruiting game with them. It's very annoying, thoug.

THOUGHTS:

We finally got the window shades up again, to the west and the north. It meant dismantling the chicken run under the lounge room window, but that's okay. The girls won't die from being kept in the chook yards and the tunnels.

I'm wondering if i'm going to need to hire someone to help with the harvest, and whether I could pay them in preserves... Or, I could just call on assistance from the PSN crowd....and pay them in lunch and preserves. :)

dear diary: 12th October

WEATHER & OBSERVATIONS:

After an exceedingly dry winter, we've had a few weeks of wet warmth and everything is growing, shooting, seeding, sprouting.

I planted a bunch of clover cover, and it seems to be actually sprouting where I planted it, once I covered it with a bit of pea straw and

I no longer have the time to dedicate to the garden in the volumes that I once did, now that I'm not working from home anymore. So A lot of stuff that needs to be done is going to be done on weekends only, although some watering will take place once I get home. Also have to learn to be careful about overdoing it. I accidentally did four hours in the garden today because I got involved in doing things and lost track of time!

Driveway corn is doing well, one died – got dug up by the chooks – but the others are growing well apace. I feel like they need more feeding, so I'll probably look at giving them a bit more chook poop direct.

Note: PATH VEGEPOD has the Musquee de Provence PUMPKIN.

CHOOKS:

Six chooks-a-laying means a lot of eggs. A lot of a lot of eggs. And even once we use them up, they're still laying! We've given eggs away to the neighbours all around, and I guess my church friends are up next.

Since the chooks have denuded all the spaces available to them, and only one set of neighbours brings their grass clippings over, I've been pulling the seedy grass weeds up and tossing them down for the chooks. They're also getting a fairly regular diet of mustard greens, along with any leafies that have holes in them. For the most part they seem pretty happy with this.

Kerry still seems to be the bottom ranking – at least, she's the one that everyone picks on when they're looking for someone to punish. She's the smallest and the most ragged, but when they hop up on the perches at night, she's usually tucked into the corner – “my corner – MINE!”

Gladys has a 'cough', which is as regular as a hiccup and sounds a bit like a honk. That said, she doesn't seem to be in pain, it's just a noise she makes – autonomic, rather than conscious.

Goong is back to laying, Hamyuu never stopped. Daofu hasn't shown any issues since we discovered the hernia and she's still laying. Carambah is fine but obviously doesn't lay since she got the implant. Siyao is fine, just has a lot of 'white' feathers, like she's gone prematurely grey.

They all seem happy.

COMPOST:

Got moved from centre bay to right bay, but didn't heat up, unfortunately. Very annoying. I made another pile in the centre bay and that one has almost gone to 'active' but not quite. I think it might need more chook poop to properly compost, so maybe next weekend, I might do a bit of adding and turning, and mix up the centre bay with more chook poop and then mix it into the right bay.

PREPARING:

Chook tractor is still on the APPLE-CREPE, chooks have quite thoroughly dug it up and cleaned it out. It might need some compost toppings before it's quite ready, though.

If I can get some woodchipping done sometime this week, then I can put that in the chook tractor. Otherwise it may end up being mostly pea straw to cover things over.

SEEDING/SPROUTING:

Trying to decide what next to plant. I feel like I should do at least a couple of brassicas and attempt a cabbage. Right now it's the peak time for planting.

DAHLIAS underneath the MANGO are sprouting.

Discovered a volunteer cucurbit near the driveway cornfield, which is pretty funny.

PLANTING OUT:

SIDE VEGEPOD
TOMATO – wasp peach, in a trio
CORN – silvermine, about a dozen of them
ZUCCHINI – black beauty
SWEET PEAS – (left to right) Matucana, Original, Beaujolais, Solstice Crimson

TRIANGLE
BEANS – snake beans to grow up wire grille sealing off the chicken frontage
SUNFLOWER – a solitary one that sprouted

LOUNGE BED/CHICKEN FRONTAGE
SWEET PEAS – remainders from planting out the side vegepod
SUNFLOWERS – (might be moonwalker and teddy bear, or else Van Gogh's Landscape and Giant Russian Organic)

PLUM-STONE
TOMATO - marmande
LETTUCE - Australian yellow leaf (one survived)
SPINACH - bloomsdale
BEANS (I think they're bush beans left over from elsewhere)

POTS
Two MELONs – one moon and stars, one unknown from someone in Thornleight – and the PUMPKIN – Galeaux d'Eysines – planted into pots and stuck back into the greenhouse, fed with chook manures
CAPSICUM – planted all into the black six-pod seedling, and feed with chook manure

DRIVEWAY CORN
Planted one more ZuCCHINI and a couple of CUCUMBERS in among them. We'll see how it goes.

HARVEST:

Still AVOCADOs, but the ALPINE STRAWBS are having a good go of it, and the

FEEDING:

Watered some beds with biologics,

NETTING:

I really need to net the donut peach and the cherry, even though the cherry doesn't have much on it this year.

THOUGHTS:

Steph came to visit the other week to get some avocado scions for grafting to one of her own rootstocks, and of course she got a tour. She commented that I had a lot growing, and that it was all doing well. At least, right now it is. Whether it continues to do well? That's another matter.

I do have a lot of things going on this year, and that's pretty deliberate; I'd like to settle into a rhythm of doing better at actually using what's in the garden, and gardening for what I'll use.

eg. Making a quiche out of eggs and the leafy greens from the garden last week. Eating avos. Working out how to turn spaces more productive.

I'd like to get some cabbages/broccoli in for winter. Somewhere with a bit of sun, but otherwise cool. Not sure where this mythical place might be...

dear diary: 20th September - planting out all over the place

With my surgery on the 6th, I was not supposed to be doing any big gardening for a couple of weeks after.

Me, being me, has sneaked in a little bit here and there, as the healing has progressed. So far, no (re)lapses, and some good planting done. Although I should maybe not have done the shovelling to day

Forthwith, the notes I made for my friend who came to help me out on Tuesday!

MANGO: Plant DAHLIAS

• dig trench around the edge
• plant DAHLIAs in trench with handful of worm farm/green wheelbarrow soil
• ETA: Order of Dahlias, clockwise: black heart, Devon Seattle winky Cavalier, Formby Empress, Violet, freckles, Cottage Delight, Betty, Atlantic jewels, briannon, Chloe, Noreen, vintage wine, Dusty Rose.

AVO-SHED: one EGGPLANT, various BUSH BEANS, assorted LETTUCES, KALE, SILVERBEET, ROCKET, BASIL

• stake out squares
• put in structure for beans
• plant Eggplant and Beans with a handful of extra soil (from black box compost or composed chook poo
• ETA:
Rocket, Mixed Lettuce, Basil, mixed Lettuce, and English Spinach (Mediema)

TOMATO GARDEN : TOMATOES (Roma)

• plant out tomatoes in tomato bed, also garlic bed.
• Plant with handful of worm castings/composted chook poo
• set up frame for protection
• watering system

GARLIC BED: eggplant & Capsicum

• one eggplant, one capsicum in each with handful of worm castings + composted chook poo
• bluebird olla?

CORN LAWN:

• move chicken run
• dig holes in soil (post digger?)
• plant corn with a handful of worm castings/composted chook poo

Planning:

• BANANA CIRCLE: one pumpkin - not yet
• VEGEPOD: one watermelon
• Small VEGEPOD: PEANUT, POTATO and PUMPKIN - Galeaux D'Eysines

Still to do:

• consider what to do with the large vegepod. (Ideally, I'd like to make a verge garden out of it, for use by the general public. But I'm a bit iffy about it, given some of the thieves around the here!)
• work out where the watermelon, and Musquee d'Provence PUMPKIN should go. Also, the MELON seedling that someone gave me along with a couple of cherry tomato seedlings.

So far, everything appears to be transplanting well, a little bit of wilting on the tomatoes' part this afternoon because it was quite warm and a bit windy, but I hadn't watered the tomatoes in. Going to need to give them a good soaking for the next couple of days. Supposed to be a couple of very wet days next week, and then some light showers the week after. We could do with a good soaking. Just not 40 days of it.