dear diary: 8th July 2025

OBSERVATIONS:

Okay, let's have a proper gardening post.

It's been a fairly mild winter. It doesn't feel like it, of course. It feels cold, just as it always does, because the walls leak heat something fierce. We're doing okay with the windows, but to do the walls is a dream – possibly a pipe dream at this point.

We have a slow water leak somewhere on the property. I have no idea where or how, because I checked all the taps and they seem fine, but the meter is moving ever so slowly - by milliliters, I think, but still. It would add up to a litre or two a day at least. IDEK. I'm worried with all the rain and drought, that something has cracked or twisted just a little and the result is a tiny leak. I'm also worried about mould and rotting, both of which are issues if the leak is somewhere in the walls.

EDIT: I have a feeling it might be at the tap which turns off the mains water. There's a tiny seep around the tap head. Which is a problem, because I suspect that Sydney Water will have to turn off the mains in the street to replace the washer or the tap or something.

Otherwise, mostly sunny days, generally very dry weather. Occasional squalls, and those two weeks of rain back in May.

CHOOKS:

We had Haamyu chicken put down on Tuesday. Big and black, she had all kinds of internal issues through her life, some of which were more costly than we needed. But after consultation with a vet who *does* do terminations (unlike the ones who didn't and basically just kept doing scans and palliative care) we determined that she wasn't ever going to get better and it was better for all involved that we just put her down. Now I got to find another place to bury a chicken.

B1 thinks we could put Haamyu in the same compost that we buried her 'sister' Daofu in.

That's one of the last photos we have of Haami roaming with the others. In the last week or two, we'd brought her inside as she just became more and more lethargic, until we took her to the vet and made the decision.

COMPOST:

Still making leaf mulch. Tossed more leaves into the chook yard for them to scratch over. Need to go back up the street and grab that pile of leaves (if it's still there after tonight, which is green bin night).

PREPARING:

Need to prep a melon patch. Exactly where from? IDEK. Maybe in the BANANA CIRCLE? Or possibly the FRONT LOUNGE bed? But need to make a decision and pronto.

SEEDING:

Should probably do some tomatoes, although I have no idea when I'm going to be able to plant them out... Maybe do some just before I head out on the trip. If they survive, they survive...

CORIANDER. Was going to plant some of that to go with the avos.

PLANTING OUT:

Planted out another set of brassicas, I think it's WOMBOK and BROCCOLI again. Half in theDRIVEWAY VEGEPOD, half in the PLUM-STONE bed in the back. I anticipate the ones in the PLUM-STONE will be slower-growing than the DRIVEWAY VEGEPOD which is fine – hopefully we will be eating those in October when I return from overseas.

The DRIVEWAY VEGEPOD lot were planted out, fed a bit of wormcasting mud, and watered around rather than on top of. The PLUM-STONE were planted out in worm castings, and watered in. Both were sowed with iron pellets to combat the snails.

HARVEST:

The BROCCOLI in the DRIVEWAY GROUND bed are doing splendidly. I've cut several heads, and more are still growing. AVOCADOs. ORANGEs.

The damn cockatoos ate most of my kumquats. Although 'ate' is a misnomer: they picked off the branches then ate the seeds out of the flesh! AUGH! There was a decent crop, too - about two dozen, maybe three?

Oranges are still on the tree, though. Avos are producing. It's some, and I hope it's enough.

FEEDING:

The brassicas in the two beds in the TRIANGLE-ESPALIER. They need some seaweed solution, and also some Biocast. (Should see about getting more of that.)

PRUNING and GRAFTING:

I'm getting a bunch of grafting scions from a guy in Sydney at the end of July, and will have to promptly graft them on. I need to have my tools cleaned and sharpened by that time.

THOUGHTS:

I have a bunch of thoughts related to The Apocalypse here. That's more planning than planting, but that's also a part of what I'm doing here.

In essence, David Suzuki thinks it's too late. Something catastrophic is going to take us down and out, and at this point we need to start building communities and connections. Doing what we can with what we have, and working out what we're going to do when (not if) it all goes to hell in le handbasket.

Make Water Filter Barrel

I'm also thinking about water collection off the carport roof. It's aluminium and needs a decent clean with a pressure-sprayer, but the water from it shouldn't be chemically contaminated, so a run through gravel and sand and a ceramic filter should be sufficient to make it drinkable.

Trying to work out where to put a number of trees, how to build a space for small birds to shelter in (they get driven off by the mynas), and how to trim stuff down so I get a good crop in the coming year.

It's a lot.

if it's the last thing I ever do...

This is going to be a more grim post than is usual for this blog, but it's no longer about 'gardening' but about 'survival'. Skills, teachable and otherwise. I haven't quite gone full prepper, but certainly I'm looking to start preparing for the worst. The world is going down, and while I don't fear death I don't want it to be slow, and I want to be enough of a survivor to be able to help the community around me. That means brushing up on knowledge and being both someone with the knowledge, as well as someone who other people know have the knowledge and are willing to ally with.

Black swan events

· Unpredictable events that change things
I think it's a matter of 'when' now, not 'if'. These are the basics for my own household, but we'll be dealing with a lot of far less prepared people, too, so it could get sketchy. May need to work better at connecting with the neighbours, getting to know their skills and so forth.

More difficult than it sounds. We are instinctively self-involved with our lives and our little thoughts, and the belief that today, next week, next month, next year will all be the same as it was last year, last decade, last century. That is almost certainly not going to be the case. So I'm getting myself organised (in my head and in my house).

What black swan events are possible in the next decade?

• Flood
• Fire
• Earthquake
• Riot/government safety net failure
• Cut off electronic access to money (no card, electronic payments, only cash)
• Internet shut down (blockade, cutoff)
• Water cut off
• Power cut off

How to plan for them
There's only so much you can do, really. THe one that worries me most is fire - it's also one of the most likely, unfortunately. Fire through the area would leave us without a home, and no way to rebuild. That'll be the tough one to deal with. Flood is unlikely, quake/sinkhole also. Can't spend too much time preparing for what might never be. Government failure will be a slow descent. Electronic severance is going to be more of an emotional/psychological difficulty. Even if we're used to communicating and dealing with other people in meatspace, the ease of communications in this era is going to take a big hit if connectivity goes down. Water would be a real problem, and so would power.

1. Energy
• a. requirements
• i. Fridge and freezer
• ii. Computers/modem
• iii. When power goes down, what will we absolutely need?
1. Fridge
2. Freezer
3. Internet/charging
4. Cooking: Rocket stove & gas oven+stove
5. Warmth: gas heater (requires electricity) or manual coverings

Home battery for extra storage 20kwh/day?

1. i. Lithium ion (may not last long)
2. ii. NiFe - will last a long time, so expensive
3. iii. LFP (lithium iron phosphate batteries)

'Standard' battery would be the ones that are being offered right now. They're not very recyclable, but they're cheap. I'd like the Nickel-Iron ones that last for a long time, but apparently they don't do so well with solar panels? (Check with Nev.)

Do we want one for power? For longevity? For reusability (charging cycles?) Price?

2. Food
   • a. More sealable containers (anything in sealable rectangles? - what about the pool chemicals boxes? Do they seal?)
   • b. More pulses, grains - solidly sealed. Buy one extra soft package next time at store.

3. Water
   • o Water filter - purchase is looking at least a couple of thousand
   • o Better water storage (additional tanks/under house water storage?)

4. Can I pay off the house before it all goes down?
   • a. Yes, by selling stocks. However, it will leave us with no savings, and let's assume I won't be paid after July. B1 has useful healthcare and assistive skills, I have homesteading skills. We can live off what we have stored and can grow for a while, although it will not be be pretty.
   • b. Wanted to pay off B2's place as well. Not likely to manage that. Also B2 is having other issues with the costings of her apartment. She might need to take assistance from the parentals and damn the electric fence, even if that's not something she wants to do. But I'd help her get the apartment paid off, so that's one less thing she has to worry about.
   • c. The twins might be more able to hold their jobs: helping, assistive, "femme coded". Low paying, but still necessary and valuable.

Priorities?

1. Water filter for roof
2. Another water tank supply
3. Water bladder for under the house
4. Home battery (unless found cheaply before)
5. More dried foods

Thoughts: I better get the trees in this winter, bushes also. If they fail, they fail. At the least, I need to get them in and give them a chance - particularly the coffee bushes!

dear diary: 30th May 2025 - i love it when a good garden comes together

OBSERVATIONS:

At least one BROCCOLI is ready! Maybe two! Going to have to cook it and eat it this weekend! Whee!

I've never really managed decent BRASSICAs before, so this is very exciting. Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks!

Even better is that they're not all growing at once. The two that are ready grew over the last couple of weeks, and are now full-sized. Another couple look like they're going to grow over the coming weeks to full-size. There are CAULIFLOWERs that are building those 'cover' leaves. And the KALE is going great guns.

KALE is harder to sell to my sister, but I rather like making kale chips from them - they're pretty tasty and crunch and excellent.

PURPLE PODDED PEAS are growing in the backyard, and doing okay as they climb the CHERRY TREE.

GARLIC has all taken off in their various spaces.

CHOOKS:

Haamyu is going okay, no more vet visits. They want to do more tests and more investigations. But we've spent way too much on her, and B1 really doesn't like saying 'no' to these nice people at the (nearby, expensive) vet who do everything in their power not to have to terminate the chicken. So, basically, the next time she flags, it'll be the chop, and the parentals have offered to assist.

That'll be interesting. I do want to learn how to do it, because I think it should be a part of responsible chicken keeping. That's a whole other discussion to be had, and I've put it off for the last five years since the first time one of our chickens started flagging. She gets extra nutrients because she can't seem to process them, but when those no longer help, it'll be the end for her.

Kerry (well, all the girls) have scaly leg mites. We treated the entire flock, but Kerry has them badly enough that she needed some painkillers, and she and Gladys get extra treatments at night because their situation is so bad. And Kerry is running out of feathers because the others are just picking on her something ferocious.

The only chicken in our current flock who hasn't needed any vet attention at all is Goongbao, possibly because she goes broody several times a year and doesn't lay. That presents its own set of inconveniences, but at least it's manageable and not expensive.

Otherwise, eggs have dropped down to just about one every couple of days (Gladys). Unfortunately, we no longer have our extra eggs from the last month: one of our cats, Smokey, jumped up on the bench and upset the egg carton...

COMPOST:

Making leaf mulch from collected leaves. Take a couple of black boxes out with me when I'm going places, scrape up the leaves and pop them in the composting box.

PREPARING:

The HAYBALE is being watered every couple of days with a liquid fertiliser or worm wee. Still not 100% on what's going in there...

SEEDING:

No seeds being planted right now, might have to sow the next round of BRASSICAS. I wonder if it's an okay season for the heirloom BRASSICAS. (I wonder if the heirloom aspect is why the previous BRASSICAS got aphids and this round doesn't)

PLANTING OUT:

Still have a punnet of BRASSICAS (not sure which ones now) and...a couple of other punnets (I think one is CHINESE CABBAGE) to go – there's also a very badly-eaten punnet of what might be another CHINESE CABBAGE.

COFFEE seedlings

LYCHEE seedlings

HARVEST:

Otherwise, the ORANGES are going nice and bright. A couple came off when I tugged them from the tree, I'm not sure what's happening there, though, because they don't smell ripe. The

KUMQUATS are once again producing a nice small crop of about thirty fruits. Something to munch through the day is the theory.

AVOCADOs are going okay, the ones that get picked don't amount to much right now. I'm not sure what season they are. All seasons? Any seasons? I was taught that you could pick them and ripen them inside, but they seem to be rotting or going brown by the time they're soft enough to open. 

I picked a SINGLE TOMATO at the start of this week. The last one from those plants, which have been there for a couple of years, just steadily producing tomatoes, battling caterpillars and slater bugs. (The slater bugs were on the verge of eating the tomato - they'd gotten the little stem-leaves, and all rolled off once I picked the thing. Greedy buggers! They've got the entire plant to eat and have been munching away on it for months.) But these tomatoes have been very faithfully producing ever since January 2024, when I got back from going away. I planted them in the spring of 2023, so a good 18 months of tomatoes, although not very frequently eaten. My bad.

LOOFAHS are still too heavy to harvest. I think I'm going to harvest them once they're a bit yellow, so there's less rot on the membrane.

The two metal beds I planted out (ESPALIER-TRIANGLE? I don't know what to call the bed) before I went to Melbourne have solidly bedded down: ONIONS, SPRING ONIONS, GARLIC, BEETROOT, BRASSICAS (probably BROCCOLI, I can't remember) - actually, go check the post CROP: BRASSICAS Timing because that's got the details needed.

I also harvested the BANANAS and chopped down the stalk. The bunch are sitting in the laundry cupboard. I should set up a hook that will enable them to be hung, so they don't ripen quite so fast... 

PRUNING:

I keep on saying I need to do some pruning, but I really really do.

THOUGHTS:

I think this weekend, I might try to lay out the LOUNGE ROOM BED. It'll be the GRAPE, KUMQUAT, PASSIONFRUIT, HOPS also ROSELLA and BLUEBERRIES maybe COFFEE bushes... Wait, what happened to my COFFEE seedlings... *runs outside to check* Oh, they're fine.

Whew!

Things to remember: GRAPE, PASSIONFRUIT, and HOPS are vines. HOPS will spread. ROSELLA and BLUEBERRIES are bushes that can be trimmed. COFFEE is less trimmable.

Maybe the BLUEBERRIES could go up under the APPLES?

KUMQUAT is citrus and will have shallow roots, while GRAPE can go deep.

overwintering capsicums, how to grow melons/watermelons

from Sydney Backyard Veggies

overwintering capsicums

1. harvest
2. prune back
• prune to around 3 nodes in a v-shape
• right at the node, trim above
• shorter in the north, taller in the south
• nything that crosses
• all the leaves
3. clear around the base of the plants (perennial grasses & weeds)
4. lightly chicken manure pellets
5. sulfate of potash & superphosphate
6. compost spread like a mulch
7. (I'd add straw cover for mulch)

From the kiwi grower on YT

MELONS
- very rich soil for melons - put manures in the soil a few months before (winter)
- straight away: aged manure or worm compostings
- growing vertically
- seed: need a long time, started mid-spring (September) in greenhousing
- tie onto the trellis
- nutrient boost
- harvest in autumn

WATERMELONS
- planted on mounds (crater shaped)
- lightly forked
- compost to make mounds (large ones, 4 watermelons per mound)
- manure pellets into the soil to make very rich
- spreading across not up
- mulching 1 week after planting out
- 2.5 weeks later (plans have taken off) weeding, plus boost with organis liquid fertiliser (only time)
- watering every 2 days (where he is it was very dry)
- 1 week later, he has melons
- 3 months later

CROP: BRASSICAS timing

FIRST PLANTING of BRASSICAS

6th Feb - planted BRASSICAS - Serenity CAULIFLOWR and Monty BROCCOLI (and one CAULI Snowball)

28th Feb -  Serenity CAULIFLOWR and Monty BROCCOLI have sprouted

14th March - planted out - mature seedlings

29th April 
- driveway bed are doing well - large leaves, plenty of feeding
- backyard APPLE-CREPE and CREPE-APRICOT aren't doing so well.

SECOND PLANTING OF BRASSICAS

9th April - planted  CAULIFLOWER: Macerata Green (HVS), CAULIFLOWER: snowball early (HVS), CABBAGE: Early Jersey (HVS), BROCCOLI: Aurora F1 (AV), CHINESE CABBAGE: Matilda F1 Early (AV) - only the F1s have survived

8th May - planted out BROCCOLI Aurora F1 in one of the front beds, interplanted with BEETROOT
- spring onions, Garlic (oriental red), 
- a box of GARLIC (spanish purple stripe)

9th May - planted out BROCCOLI Aurora F1 in the other front bed, interplanted with BEETROOT, CHINESE CABBAGE, SPRING ONIONS, GARLIC (Master jack) and one CAULIFLOWER Macerata Green that survived

Dear Diary: 8th May 2025 - winter is definitely coming

OBSERVATIONS:

Getting colder, down to early 20s. More damp weather,

CHOOKS:

Hamyuu is doing okay, she and Kerry both get an extra 'shot' of nutritional liquid. Kerry is no longer laying soft-shells, but she's still tiny.

COMPOST:

Slowly sieving compost. There's a bunch of tree roots in the compost and I don't know where they're coming from. I also don't know how to keep them out in future.Perhaps use the corflutes on the base in future?

PREPARING:

Chook tractor is on the PLUM-STONE bed, with a lot of autumn trimmings in it, and some shredded wood. I need to add more chook manures, and basically turn the space into a giant compost pile, if possible.

SEEDING:

Heirloom seedlings, another attempt now that the weather is better?

PLANTING OUT:

Got all the BEETROOT planted out (see bit on BRASSICA plantings), all the (bought) SPRING ONION, some of the GARLIC, and most of one punnet of BROCCOLI.(Aurora F1)

Still have another punnet of BROCCOLI (Aurora F1)

HARVEST:

FEEDING/SPRAYING:

Sprayed the ROSE BUSH and the DUAL STONE with some lime sulphur. Need to read up on what trees can take it – might need to give the APPLES a go? Probably the DONUT PEACH. I can't remember about the APRICOT.

PRUNING:

I probably need to do some more careful trimming on the trees.

THOUGHTS:

re: using tractor to make compost
why not make the compost in the tractor? That is, let the chooks in to start with, then dump the manures, the trimmings, the clippings, the wood, the paper the everything in there and let it sit for a while, then allow the chooks to scratch it all up. I've been relying on the chooks to do more work than they're used to doing.

TREELINES

along front of house, facing west

GRAPE, KUMQUAT, PASSIONFRUIT, HOPS
also ROSELLA and maybe COFFEE bush

along chicken yard, facing north

LYCHEE, APRICOT

under jacaranda

WHITE SAPOTE, BLACK SAPOTE, ICE CREAM BEAN

Dear Diary: 26th April

OBSERVATIONS:

I want to dig up the entire FRONT FENCE bed. In part because there are mugwort MUGWORT seedlings popping up everywhere in it, in part because I think the ELDER TREE roots are in there somewhere. Also, the SALVIAS have gone a little cray-cray. As has the THAI BASIL. And the GERANIUM.

But there are DAHLIAS in there that are doing beautifully, some LILIES and some COSMOS - a deep magenta one, not just the orange ones! I need to save the seed from that ASAP.

I fixed a wheelbarrow! Okay, not entirely - it was mostly put together by a friend, but there was some angle-grinding required to remove wheels and bolts and trim down axles. But it's done! With a new wheel! And it rolls! *pauses to admire*

CHOOKS:

Haami is back to normal - as normal as she gets. She needs some special feeding (she gets a lot of human-level food) and all the chickens are getting enriched water. Kerry's egg shells are no longer quite as fragile as they were, which is good.

COMPOST:

I've started sieving the compost I made...last year? Longer? IDEK. But I'm working my way through it pretty slowly. It's always slow.

The presence of the wheelbarrow makes sieving the compost much easier. It would be even easier with a second person there to help, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, I think. Or maybe I could get one of the sistren to do the spinning of the sieve while I shovel in the soil?

PREPARING:

In the last week, I set up the two metal-frame beds in the front - ESPALIER-STONE - plastic on the bottom, then woodchips, then chook manure, comfrey, some lucerne, more woodchips, compost soil, some worm castings, and pea straw on top to keep the moisture in. Don't know how well they'll do if we end up having a dry year. I think it's more likely to be a wet year than a dry one, but still...

SEEDING:

The second sowing of BRASSICA seedlings are sprouting - all the F1s are coming good, the heirlooms? Not so much. That's not comforting, in fact. Then again, I also can't be entirely sure how old these seeds are. They don't come with a date on them (which they really should). So they might be older than viability can manage.

PLANTING OUT:

BEETROOT seedlings are going strong. They'll need to be planted out very soon. I might have to do them on ANZAC day - most likely in between the existing BRASSICA plantings.

HARVEST:

I think the AVOS are ready again. I picked one, but it's taking its sweet time to get soft.

FEEDING:

I haven't beeen feeding the BRASSICAs much, but I think I should do some more. Need to work out what they need for the fruiting stage that's coming along.

PRUNING:

I got the lawn guy to trim down all the fruit trees, so I have a giant pile of chipping to do. There needs to be some neatening of the clustering branches, and trimming down, but I can do that in bits here and there on days that I have the time.

THOUGHTS:

Thoughts on where the fruiting/longer term plants should go.

1. Grape
- front yard in front of LOUNGE ROOM
- front yard in front of PORCH

2. White Sapote, Black Sapote, Ice Cream Bean
- under jacaranda, with intent of succession planting. Issue might be the jacaranda crowding them out of deeper nutrients. (How do you kill a jacaranda?)
- what if I dug a hole deep enough for a watering tube next to the intended tree locations?

3. Lychee
- along chicken yard?

4. Apricot
- along chicken yard?

5. Kumquat
- along chicken yard?

dear diary: not in format, because it's kind of busy, 15th April

Apparently I already posted most of this...

UPDATE: The BRASSICA seeds that are sprouting are the ActiveVista F1 ones. *sadface*

For the planned “front garden bed”, I'm absolutely going to need to have plastic laid down to keep the tree roots from getting through too easily. maybe even dug out a little, with gravel over it, and then the pond liner plastic for the wicking section?

UPDATE: The ROOT VEGIES seeds are not sprouting - one shoot, and nothing else! I think the seed is too old.

I need to make a plan for where things are going to be planted out this winter:
GRAPE
HOPS
WHITE SAPOTE
ICE CREAM BEAN
LYCHEE
CHOKO
APRICOT
BLACK SAPOTE
KUMQUAT

...that's a lot of trees, actually. EEP. I really might have to get rid of the extra nectarine that doesn't really do anything but grow nekos that go moldy...

dear diary: 10th April 2025

Lots of rain in the weather. Lots and lots of rain. Enough that I think the tank is full. I rerouted the carport roof tanks out to my brassica garden under the frangipani and that’s been doing kind of okay.

So after the egg a couple of weeks ago, Haamyu was feeling very full and solid. B1 (sister) was particularly concerned about Haamyu, and took her to a vet on Saturday. It turns out she has egg peritonitis, somewhat caused by an overactive ovary and severe vitamin deficiency, to the point where all her bodily reserves of vitamins are depleted. Chances are that the other chickens are also somewhat vitamin deficient – apparently our soil is not great at some point? Which, damn.

So she’s been removed from the general flock (who are digging around in the ground) and is being fed particular foods, clean and not-in-the-dirt, along with a vitamin regimen and some antibiotics.

PHEW! Anyway, this is a very expensive chicken, and I do not recommend this if you have a day job! TBH, I’m not sure how much of the situation is because B1 feels vaguely guilty for Haami not being a favourite of the flock, and because we take the chickens to actual avian vets who love these animals, rather than the more pragmatic vet practices.

Anyway.

We’re heading for winter, everyone is going light on the laying, and we’re getting eggs only at the rate of maybe one a day. Once again, Kerry is laying soft-shells, her issue might be the same vitamin deficiency; she’s very scraggly, although that can also be because she plunges in to get food and the others will pick on her to get her to move away.

We have ALL THE FLOWERS right now. After a couple of years of failures, the dahlias have finally come good! Beautiful large blooms, adding colour to the fringes of the ‘bee garden’ section over by the front fence. Wonderful!

I have two walking onions/leeks that I need to work out where to plant. I’m thinking on the step space, so they can grow out and not dry out. Drying out is a big problem around the place through the dry seasons we sometimes have.

Planting for spring: SPINACH, CORIANDER , KALE, maybe time to plant the BUK CHOI, need to work out where to do the JAPANESE RADISH (can’t remember the name right now), also CHINESE CABBAGE (WOMBOK). I just ordered a bunch of seeds from Diggers, hopefully they come through before the growing season is done!

For the planned “front garden bed”, I'm absolutely going to need to have plastic laid down to keep the tree roots from getting through too easily. maybe even dug out a little, with gravel over it, and then the pond liner plastic for the wicking section?

I planted out a slew of LEEKS and ONIONS a week ago in a tray but I don’t know how many of them will take, they’re all rather old.

Mulch half the ASPARAGUS (upper bed, I think), maybe plant Zja’s ASPARAGUS wherever there is space.

Mulch the POTATOES in the small VEGEPOD.

I planted a bunch more seeds yesterday (9th April):

CAULIFLOWER: Macerata Green (HVS)
CAULIFLOWER: snowball early (HVS)
CABBAGE: Early Jersey (HVS)
BROCCOLI: Aurora F1 (AV)
CHINESE CABBAGE: Matilda F1 Early (AV)

Put up a netting frame around the backyard BRASSICAs (APPLE-CREPE, and CREPE-APRICOT)

Sprayed pyrethrum over the BRASSICAS (found a bunch of teeny tiny caterpillars).

This weekend, more chook manures, water in with the biogrow solution.

notes on GARLIC, ONIONS, POTATOES,

 GARLIC

- fish carcases OR ELSE
- compost, rock minerals, blood & bone, wood ash
- dilute seaweed extract overnight
- mycorrhizal fungi
- lightly sugarcane mulch
- water in with dilute seaweed
weekly swap between
- dilute seaweed
- fish hydrolysate
monthly
- organic extract or slow- release fertiliser
- harvest when half the leaves are dying

ONIONS

- all at once
- in trays
- gladalan brown & red

POTATOES

- old potato seeds
- hilling: sugarcane mulch (and maybe seaweed solution?)

Dear Diary: 21st March - Equinoctal prepping for Winter

OBSERVATIONS:

Crazy hot Monday, rather warm Thursday, warm Friday

A lot of the brassicas I planted out last week died in the heatwave, but I have taken steps to try to ensure the remainder survive, watering them even in the middle of heatwaves and such...

CHOOKS:

Kerry is laying soft-shelled eggs. We're trying to up her calcium using yoghurt, egg shells, and various greens. We'll see how she goes. But, yeah. Might be time for her to take an implant.

COMPOST:

Haven't been making any. I want to turn the compost in the outer bay, just to make sure it's thoroughly decomposed, but haven't had the time or energy.

SEEDING:

The lines of CARROTS I planted out in the midst of the brassicas are going well.

I think I was going to plant something else but I don't remember what anymore.

PLANTING OUT:

Might have to plant out the rest of the BRASSICAS that I planted (the Sprouting BROCCOLI is the one that actually grew well.

HARVEST:

Picked the last of the PERSIMMONS. Uh. There were a few. Just a few... I dried the previous lot, and they're great for snacks!

Got one CAPSICUM (chocolate), and one CUCUMBER (pickle, bought from Bunnings, mostly succumbed to mildew although not as fast, in the APPLE-CREPE bed)

FEEDING:

Fed the BRASSICAS with seaweed solution and with the biogrow solution. Water for the next week, then another feeding, maybe.

I should feed the CORN with the biogro and seaweed solution. Also the CAPSICUM which has fruit growing on it.

PRUNING:

I'm going to need to do some serious work on the trees this year. Might need to borrow James' chainsaw again.

The PERSIMMON definitely needs a big prune, also possibly a top lop. Most things need a top lop, because they just sprout back.

I'm thinking about making some kind of 'dual espalier' for the neco-peach tree, to make it easier to harvest and net. Espalier is definitely an excellent way to do it...

DONE

I made a 'netting cage' for the BRASSICAS next to the DRIVEWAY. The issue there is mostly going to be one of watering, because the space dries out really fast. So getting enough water there is going to be the tricky part. But the netting cage should do something towards keeping the white butterfly moths off.

Now to do something like that for the backyard. Hm. I wonder if I could take the hoopsfrom the fruit trees and 'cross' them over the CREPE-APRICOT bed, although I'd need much better stakes for setting them in the ground... Might be better than my usual attempt?

THOUGHTS:

Thinking about digging up/cutting down the second white nectarine (that doesn't do as well, usually succumbs to mold) and replacing it with the APRICOT. But would that be too warm a place for it to fruit? IDEK.

Dear Diary: autumn harvests

OBSERVATIONS:

Nice cool weather, then suddenly a mad heatwave.

The CORN in the APPLE-CREPE is growing decently but not super-well. I think it may need a more steady water supply: that was what did it for the vegepod corn by the driveway. I haven't worked out how to do this from the water tank right now, but I guess I'm going to need to.

CHOOKS:

Looks like Haamyu has finally laid! We found a very long, oval-ish egg, along with the two from our regular Lockdown Ladies (Gladys and Kerry). Siyao does a slightly longer egg, and Goong does a perfect but petite egg. So we think it must be Haamyu,because she was feeling very 'full' a day or two ago and she seems to feel better now.

I finally dealt with the weevil-infested chook seeds. A giant sack of them that was basically riddled. To the point where the dead piled up thick enough that you can barely see the tile underneath. Maybe I can now start sorting that corner of the porch?

PREPARING:

Set up a garden bed under the frangipani, but it's not very deep. I really do need to get a mattock and dig the soil up properly, to give vegies a decent chance.

Planning to put a garden bed in between the APPLE ESPALIER and the DUAL STONE, although the watering will, again, be a problem. May need a sister's help.

Netting over the seedlings to protect them from brassica moth.

SEEDING:

Planted out a bunch of other BRASSICAS about a week ago: CABBAGE: golden acre, red acre. MUSTARD GREENS yukina Savoy. BROCCOLI sprouting (home seed) – all of them have geminated, CAULIFLOWER macerata greens.

I have a feeling at least some of the failed ones should probably be grown later in the season. But I'm too busy trying to work out what should be planted when.

PLANTING OUT:

The various BRASSICAS have been planted out. Note: leaving them in the seedling tray for another couple of weeks helped them grow that much more sturdy before planting out. Unfortunately, I planted them out right before a heatwave weekend, so...we'll see how many of them survive! BROCCOLI is Monty F1, CAULIFLOWER is F1 Serenity, and maybe one CAULIFLOWER Snowball

HARVEST:

PERSIMMONS are still going. The ones that are under the netting are ripening so much slower – and also growing so much larger than the ones that came before. It's kind of amazing.

Have finished harvesting APPLES: the last of the golden delicious, and they are huge!Dark spots on the skin appear to be like some kind of spore that rubs off with a cloth. I have no idea what and should go look it up.

The POMEGRANATES were amazing this year. I got at least twenty of them, and turned about 8-10 of them into pomegranate molasses. Used it for basting goose with a little left over and it was amazing.

Otherwise, there are two PUMPKINS (galeax d'eysine) and a handful of RASPBERRIES – I think they're the autumn canes, not the spring ones. We seem to have more Autumn canes than spring ones. A TOMATO here and there. A couple of EGGPLANTS, a CUCUMBER, but not that much.

FEEDING:

The big thing right now is watering. All the seedlings need seasol, especially the BRASSICAS in the DRIVEWAY bed.

PRUNING:

I can get the garden guy to do the pruning, but the chipping is going to be a different matter. I wonder who up and down the street might have an electric/petrol chipper... That, or working out who can do some electrical/motor repairs...

THOUGHTS:

What if, for planting, I set up envelopes by month? JANUARY – roots, fruits, leaves FEBRUARY – roots fruits leaves, etc. And then ALL YEAR or something like that? IDK. Maybe it needs to be more carefullly managed than that.

Planting mixed seeds in a tray of soil, then planting that out seems to work pretty well for things like lettuce and beetroot – those have been doing well. Not sure about the onions. I have yet to manage some good onions that I didn't have to leave for two years to get to a decent size.

Dear Diary: 28th February

It's February and everything is growing. We're still in the hot and sticky days, but the temps are now in the 30s and not hitting the 40s so much.

Sowing: Planted a lot of things a few weeks ago - mostly the winterveg: cauli, cabbage, broccoli, wombok - some of the heirloom stuff isn't doing so well (Early Snowball Caulis from seed collection for inst), but the F1 plants are doing really well on the growing front. (Some were bred for warmer climates)

Have let the chooks into the driveway bed to the north, they dug it up quite thoroughly, now trying to clear the space for the brassicas.

Need to set up the piping from the water barrels to the driveway space. Check the barrels for leaks and fix. Wonder if I could get the young man I used to hire to help out with that...

Am thinking of planting the Black sapote around the base of the jacaranda and then eventually cutting down the jacaranda. I don't see any other way to get a bunch of trees into the ground where I have no more space to put them...

Incidentally, I've managed to grow some lychee trees from scratch! This is really novel. I've tried before, but they never sprouted. These ones did! I would really like to see how it goes, because I buy the marcotted ones, but they always seem to die on me. Hopefully I can get them to young adult stage, with a decent root ball, suitable for planting out. And then... IDEK where I'd put it. Probably next to the avo.

I discovered that passionfruit only lasts for seven years, which might be why the last one died without fruiting. Need to get the one I have in the ground pronto. Also work out where it is going. 

The wormwood has died (I don't know what happened to it) and I need to start planting along the chook fence line – doesn't really matter what, they just need some kind of shelter and shade.

So: kumquat, passionfruit, maybe a choko during the summer months? I pulled out a fig that was becoming unwieldy, but I am wondering if I could maybe set it up along the chook fenceline

Also gotta get the grapevine in. I really am starting to think that next to the gas meter might be a good idea. May have to float that idea with other people and work out any reasons why it might not be a good idea. Root systems? The grapevine I want to be a shademaker, and not just a fruiting thing. I want more stuff growing across the brick wall in the front, so it doesn't heat up so much – particularly in summer.

Right now, I'm mostly harvesting persimmons. That is, there are so many persimmons that I'm practically giving them away. It seems that putting them under a net also slows down their ripening – everything else went ripe really fast, but the ones under the net are holding strong.

I need to feed a few more things in the garden:

TOMATOES:
· Epsom salts
· Seaweed solution
· Potash

CUCUMBER
· Seaweed solution

CORN
· Seaweed solution
· Chook poop

EGGPLANT
· Seaweed solution

SEEDLINGS
· Seaweed solution

The CAULIFLOWER (Serenity F1) and the BROCCOLI (Monty F1) seedlings are growing very nicely, and just about ready to plant out. There's going to be quite a few of them, I think, and I have space prepared next to the driveway, and in the CREPE-APRICOT bed (and probably the APPLE-CREPE bed, because half the stuff in there isn't growing very well). There should be no more crazy hot days now that we've hit March, and I just need to keep things well-watered.

None of the standard seeds germinated; it might be that the weather is too warm for it. So the F1s do okay now for over the winter, and the heirlooms do better over the winter? Maybe? I guess we'll have to see during March and April what we can actually germinate.

I need to pull out the two metal garden frames from the TRIANGLE ORCHARD, and redistribute the soil from them elsewhere. They're in the wrong place for the summer, and they might be in the wrong place for the winter, too...

Finally, I need to put together the IBC – perhaps with a little bit of help. My original thought for the grapevine was to put it in there, and that's still an option. But IDK. I have to think about it some. Do grapevines need more rootspace?

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.