dear diary: 30th September - last little bits and pieces

WORKING DAY:

With the assistance of Cat, got a post in, attached the unbroken half of the beam to it, then cut off the end, and replaced the broken part.

May need to do a bit of guerilla gardening on the other side of the fence; put down some meadow flowers or something. Perhaps some foxglove? Hm. What about perennials that can grow through the fence but which the chooks can't touch?

POPPIES in the TROPICAL BED.

Two composting thingies and half the soil dumped into the black plastic composter down the bottom of the garden, to process through the summer.

Planted out the remainder of the AVO-SHED: two Red Boar TOMATOES, some MARIGOLDS (or maybe CALENDULAS) on the path side, and a sprinkle of the 'bed filler' container: radishes, carrots, silverbeet, lettuce, beetroot, and maybe shallots? Anyway, we'll see how that goes.

Got the PLUM and the DONUT PEACH netted. CHERRIES are flowering and so are SOUR CHERRIES so I don't think I'll get them netted at all, because the fruit would be set by next week and I won't be here next week.

I hope the watering system runs okay while I'm gone...

dear diary - 29th September 2026: about to go away and trying to get everything to just run reliably

Whew. I'm just not keeping up with everything going on right now.

OBSERVATIONS:

It's been pretty hot and rainy for a few days – enough that a few things are starting to grow, including the green mulch mix that I planted in the CREPE-APRICOT...just as I was about to plant that out.

The GARLIC is acquiring black aphids right, left, and centre. I've had to spray them with Neem Oil to keep them under control, and it's probably going to need more of it in a week. Might have to leave instructions with B1.

Tiger's Eye BEANS in AVO-SHED:

CHOOKS:

A summary of eggs:
Brown and shiny is Jima-Wu (araucana cross), pale creamy brown is Goongbao (wyandotte), elongated and streaky is Siyao (barnevelder), blue is Jiandoy (cream legbar) , white is Hongyan (leghorn cross). We get at least four eggs a day, five when Goong isn't broody (which she's been for the last four weeks or so). We're giving eggs away at a rate of knots right now.

Gonna move the chooks to the PLUM-STONE bed before I leave, I think. Cover some of the spaces with low-baskets so the chooks can peck at the greens but can't dig them up.

Yard is not covered over (yet). We may not do the entirety of it all. Just limiting access to food and water so the native birds can't reach it may be sufficient.

Also, the south-west chook yard beam broke sometime last weekend, and so Wednesday 30th, I'll be (hopefully) rectifying it with a new upright, and at least half a new crossbeam.

COMPOST:

Right bin – bought garden soil, sulfured, some compost mixed in
Centre bin – compost that didn't sieve
white industrial bag – bought garden soil, sulfured
three grow bags – bought garden soil, sulfered
up under eaves: garden compost

PREPARING:

Got Cat to help me fill two more of the grow bags – one with GINGER, the other with DAHLIAS

Planning to turn the fake half-barrel into a bit of a wicking bed, and then plant the rest of the DAHLIAS in it. There's also a few dahlias under the MANGO TREE.

SEEDING:

No more seeds. Although I guess I could plant some more CORN so it's ready to be planted out when I get back?

PLANTING OUT:

TOMATOES:

In the upgraded LOUNGE ROOM WATER-UP:
Orange Flesh Purple Smudge - indeterminate, fresh
Black Icicle – indeterminate, cooking sauces stews, slicing, drying, eating fresh
Black Krim- indeterminate, SALAD, SLICING, BOTTLING, SAUCE, & PRESERVES
Tropic - indeterminate, might be good for processing: “thick walled”
Cherokee Purple – indeterminate, beefsteak type

In the DRIVEWAY VEGEPOD:
Amethyst Cream (cherry) – indeterminate, fresh
Barry's Crazy Cherry – indeterminate, yellow, fresh

In the TRIANGLE WATER-UP:
Red Boar – indeterminate, medium size (planning to use this for tomato canning)

CORN:
Silvermine: many seeds sprouting – CREPE-APRICOT
Glass Gem: 4 seeds sprouting – DRIVEWAY VEGEPOD

HARVEST:

Last of the CABBAGES (outer leaves were bitter, but inner leaves were lovely as a slaw), but we're not getting through the BROCCOLI fast enough (who'da thunk it).

I gave a bunch of SILVERBEET to Cat as a thank you for the work she helped me with last week. Gave Darren a SWEET POTATO, SILVERBEET, and a BROCCOLI for moving the boxes of soil over to the deep corner of the yard.

Former APRICOT/AVO bed has been a bit overgrown by the little GOOSEBERRY plant, I've chopped it all back (and the girls have been pecking away at it), and planted 4 COFFEE, a PINEAPPLE and two ALOE VERA. There should also be some GALANGAL in there (or maybe it's TURMERIC). But I'm thinking that space could be a more hot/tropical area during summer, and when things grow sufficiently, then they might get some sun in winter.

I should plant the BETEL there, too.

FEEDING:

I planted the CORN, COFFEE, ALOE VERA, and PINEAPPLE with WORM CASTINGS and a dusting of B&B, then watered in with a little of Lee's Biocast solution.

PRUNING:

Everything's pruned back, but need to net the backyard PLUM and maybe the DONUT PEACH. Also, weirdly, the backyard CHERRY has a few flowers! Very unexpected. Whether we get cherries? Another matter entirely.

THOUGHTS:

When Cat comes:
- fix the chook yard post and framing
- fill the black composting ring? First with woodchips, then with the contents of the black composting ring up by the driveway, then add the bought garden soil over that, and finish with the leafmulch from autumn. (Last autumn? This autumn? Doesn't really matter I think.)
- make one wicking bed? (pref: backyard)

The PATHWAY VEGEPODS need a dig out and a refresh. I think the soil in them has become hydrophobic, because all I seem to get is runoff when I try to water them. Actually, the DRIVEWAY VEGEPOD also needs a dig out and a refresh – same problem. And also: the horseradish has grown entirely through the damn thing. Maybe a permabee to clean them out and also get the FRONT PORCH WICKING BED going?

Need to order more BIOCAST solution from Lee, although I have no idea how I'm going to get it down to Sydney.

dear diary: 17th September 2026 - hot weekend is a'comin'

OBSERVATIONS:

It's early September and the weather is already hot. I complained about the cold through June and July and early August, but even now the weather is easing up. It'll be late-twenties by the end of September.

It's going to be a burning summer.

Plans:
1. make a space for the chooks under the house, limit them there on the hot summer days.
2. cover over the chicken run, and tarp the chicken yards (extra netting down the sides of the yards)

I'm thinking of taking off the roofing on one part of the chook run and angling it in the direction of the slope. It would have to be done before tarping the chicken yards, though.

CHOOKS:

All the girls are laying, Hangyan did a double-yolker the other day. Hangyan also tends to try to limit the other two's eating. If she's eating at the trough, the other little girls are chased away. If they're eating at the hanging feeders, she'll hop up to take over. It's why we have multiple feeders – to make sure that everyone gets a feed.

COMPOST:

Need to dig out the compost in the 3rd bay – find somewhere to put it at least...

I bought a load of soil from Flower Power. pH is somewhere in the 12 range, I think... Unsuitable for planting straight off, and likely to poison anything I put it on. *sigh*

The goal right now is to move it into containers and spaces where it can rest and the pH can restore. I'm adding sulphur to it by the spoonful, but it's going to be pretty bad. My regular compost is easily pH 7 – almost neutral.

PREPARING:

What to do about the Flower Power soil – ph of at least 10.
1. Add Sulphur to remediate the soil.
2. Get it into holding containers to sit for the next few months
- sand bag
- black adjustable composter
- compost bays

SEEDING:

Planted some more Golden Acre CABBAGES – last week in August

Planted BEANS in the various beds where I'd already put the FlPw soil – partly to check for those pesticides that linger in the soil, partly to act as a soil regulator, partly to check if beans will grow in that degree of basic soil.
Wax (butterbean? black seed) in the Triangle Bed wicking bed.
Tigers Eye in the AVO-SHED
[the other bean] in the LOUNGE ROOM WATER-UPs

PLANTING OUT:

- Elephant GARLIC (about 3 cloves)
COFFEE plants in the bed in the backyard. It should do okay through most of the year, but might struggle a little in winter with less sun. We'll see, I guess.

HARVEST:

CABBAGE – don't know what kind this was, but it had long leaves like a wombok, but also slightly spicy, like a Chinese mustard variety

BROCCOLI – still going with a head here and a head there.

FEEDING:

Fed the GARLIC in the pathway VEGEPOD

PRUNING and NETTING:

1. Neko-Peach is netted (but some fruit is already stung, will need to dispose of these).
- I need to toss the net next year.

2. netting for FOUR-STONE PLUM
- needs to be all the way around the branch to try to keep the possums out.

THOUGHTS: Thoughts on seasons:

TO DO:

soil

1. Clear out compost bay

2. reform compost bays

3. Line compost bay with panels

4. move soil (remediating along the way)
- compost bays
- black compost