How Gardening Is Political

At the end of the last post, I said

The goal for hosting a garden on the trail is to inspire others to growing even a little of their own food. We all need to ease ourselves off the utter dependence on the industrial food chain.

If you're here because of the Sydney Edible Garden Trail, chances are reasonable that you're interested in growing your own food. Maybe you've already got the full mindset and the reasons and just need the impetus to get started. Maybe you've started and are looking to expand and came around to get more ideas. Maybe you just thought growing your own food might be nice and hey, let's see what other people are doing!

All excellent reasons.

Please be warned: this post is not about gardening, per se. It's about people, processes, politics, pragmatism, and, yes, permaculture. It's about the way we approach problems and find solutions for them. And I know I don't have any kind of power to change anything more than my own behaviour and perhaps to influence other people to think things my way.

Permaculture always made sense to me – a permanent culture, instead of the throwaway one I grew up with in the 80s and 90s. I had more faith in politics and powers back then, I thought that more people thought like me – all of humanity, together.

The last 18 months since Trump II, six years since COVID, decade since America dived into its decline, have been a rude awakening for some, but there's been an inevitability about it, too.

War in Iran has just upped the timeline something savage.

Did you know that the LPG plant that was bombed processed a large portion of the fertiliser that industrialised nations use to fertilise their fields? And the Northern Hemisphere is going into spring planting right now.

There may very well be purists thinking “but that's great! Now we can just use natural fertiliser...”

On enough food for 8 billion people, spread asymmetrically across the world?

Yes, there are a metric FUCKTON of problems with the way we do things, but the problem is that if we stop doing things the way we do them just like that, then the billions of people who are depending on the produce of those things that are done the (problematic) way we developed them are going to suffer.

100 years ago, the population of the world was 2 billion. In a century we have cubed that. And although there are plenty of people living in poverty or on the poverty line, their lives are still valuable. They are still human beings with a right to clean water, clean air, shelter, kindness, human dignity...and food.

Let's not be absolutists about this. There are ways that we can use fossil fuels, or problematic processes less. But we cannot give them up entirely without serious horror being visited on a whole lot of people. And maybe those people don't look like you, or don't live like me, or don't think like us, but they're still people. They're still human. And I don't have to like them – or the processes that are problematic – to recognise that we need to wean ourselves off the shitty stuff rather than stop it all cold turkey.

People are going to die. Most of them will be children.

A friend (I don't remember which one, but it might have been the US Republican one) once said 'politics is the art of the possible'. I don't know if she still believes that – she's gone full-bore 'daughters of the revolution' which I think is a right-wing nationalistic 'natural citizen' type movement so...probably not. I imagine that now she would say 'politics is the art of preserving the culture that I personally want to live in with people who personally also see the world like me'.

Nevertheless, 'the art of the possible' is a nuance that entirely too many people no longer recognise – perhaps because the internet has siloed us into our groups, and we have no patience or space for those who think differently.

dear diary: 20th October and previous weeks

OBSERVATIONS:

I've been gone six weeks and the garden has changed...significantly.

For starters, I left in late winter, and returned mid-spring and EVERYTHING IS GROWING.

The weather has turned hot and dry, with a couple of temps at 35-40C. Unfortunately, the watering system in the back is leaking and I need to fix it before I can properly water the back. DAMMIT. I guess that might end up being a job for Saturday perhaps?

In the front triangle, the PERSIMMON has grown back super-thick and leafy, and I'm thinking it's going to need some trimming so it doesn't get too out of hand. It's shading the space where I was growing tomatoes and some pumpkins, thinking that it would take longer for the shade to hit. But no, apparently not. So both the CITRUS and the bed I had behind the STONE arein full shade.

The beds I planted have overgrown, and while things are surviving in there, nothing is really thriving, thanks to the heat and the lack of watering. B1 couldn't really manage it, which isn't surprising, and I didn't have the watering system properly set up, unfortunately.

Several of the grafts took, but some didn't.

The APRICOTS on the TWO STONE took, (the cherries did not)

The PLUMS on the PLUM took (the cherries did not) (I'm seeing a pattern with the cherries.)

Something that concerns me is a kind of fungus that seems to be growing out of the cambium layer of the tree – I think it's because the sealant stayed on too long – the full six weeks, instead of being taken off at three or four weeks. I've taken it all off now, but...we might have to wait and see if I've killed the trees entirely.

Next job is to trim down the scion trees, because they're entirely too vigourous right now.

Neither of the APRICOTS, nor the STONE fruit APRICOT, nor the FOUR-APPLE are flowering. Not at all. The GOLDEN DELICIOUS APPLE is flowering a little, and the GALA usually comes in late, but it's also not looking great. Don't think this is going to be a good year for apples, anyway...

Somewhat surprisingly the WHITE MULBERRY in the chook pen survived. It even has a little fruit on it. I should pick those off before they get much bigger.

The WHITE SAPOTE is almost dead, the BLACK SAPOTE is surviving. The ICE CREAM BEAN is comfortably in the fake barrel along with...another tree that I don't know.

Almost all the COFFEE seedlings dried out. And several of the LYCHEE trees are on the blink. B1 insists she watered them enough but I have my doubts.

I suspect the FIG strikings that I took have failed, but one of the branches from the BLACK GENOA that got worm eaten has survived and has a leaf on it.

PASSIONFRUIT vine is probably dead. KUMQUAT has survived, although isn't looking great.

MANGO has a bajillion little fruits on it, and I'm going to have to keep that one watered properly this summer. And that's going to be an effort and a half!

the GRAPE is doing wonderfully, thanks very much. I need to get some kind of a frame up so that we have a hope of growing it for shade, maybe? IDK. B1 and I are on two pages about that. She wants a shade that we can pull back (ie. Man-made mechanical), I'm for the grape in summer and bare in winter.

CHOOKS:

All seem healthy and laying (except Carambah, who has an implant and shouldn't be laying at all). Life rolls on without Dr. Kerry, and she's in the freezer awaiting the moment for burial. Also, a location.

Currently TRACTOR is on CREPE-APRICOT, should stay there until early November

COMPOST:

I thought it had dried out while I was away, but the temp in it was just under 'steady', and when I turned it on Tuesday 21st it was damp (but not moist) and most of the non-fibrous things had decomposed. I turned it and covered it with sacking.

Lawn guy came this afternoon, said it was okay mowing the leaves, but ended up leafblowing most of it to the edges of the garden. Oh well. I'm going to have to whip out the mower myself on Friday and give it a good going-over. Then use the leaves as mulch.

PREPARING:

I'm pretty much preparing for the Sydney Edible Garden Trail in March 2026. I want to showcase how much can be grown in a small space, and effectively using chickens.

That would mean I'd have the chooks on one of the tractor beds. And I need to make a decision about which one. My instincts say that the AVO-SHED would be best: it's a good visual, and it's difficult to grow things in there. So I need to do any growing in the AVO-SHED ASAP in the next six months with an eye to having the girls on it by early March

FORWARDTHOUGHTS:

AVO-SHED
thoughts: not a lot of sun happening here, things tend to grow badly when they grow at all now that the avo is next door. I wonder if some careful planting and feeding might do a better job now?
Perhaps try a ZUCCHINI, assorted BEANS and some LEAFY GREENS (SILVERBEET) – going to need to feed and water them hard.

CREPE - should be ready by early November
- plant the GLASS GEM CORN in this bed, with ZUCCHINI and TOMATO and BEANS

APPLE-CREPE
- BEANS, ZUCCHINI, TOMATO

PLUM-STONE

DRIVEWAY WICKING
- plant the COUNTRY GENTLEMEN CORN in this bed, in a triangle at the top left corner (around the watering pipe)
- CUCUMBER along the back edge
- SNAKE BEANS along the back edge
- BEETROOT and SILVERBEET spaced through the middle
- BUSH BEANS along the front

HARDWARE WORK:

1. Watering System

2. Garden seat

3. Take the TRIANGLE beds out and consolidate into a single bed

4. Make up the IBC bed on the porch

SEEDING:

So many things need planting, especially for the SEGT 2026, which is in March (I think).

21st -22nd and 27th - 28th
CORN – Country Gentleman, Glass Gem
CUCUMBER – Burpless
ZUCCHINI – black beauty
PUMPKIN – musquee du provence
ROCKMELON – zdenka's?

Also: SILVERBEET, SPINACHES, maybe WATER SPINACHES?

PLANTING OUT:

Nothing to plant out. Anything I seeded back in August is pretty much dead.

HARVEST

FEEDING:

Fed the potatoes shop potash. Or phosphate. Hm. I have a feeling it was phosphates.

Need to try actual wood ash from Sue's fireplace next time.

Found this advice about POTATOES on the internet:
Leaf mulch, compost, blood and bone, potatoes, compost, leaf mulch
planted in June
watered very regularly
fertilised halfway through growing season – potash

she had some really good potatoes in October after planting in June.

Was wondering if I could do the same from the August planting by December in the small vegepod on the path...

LET OPERATION POTATO COMMENCE!

PRUNING:

Honestly, everydamnthing in the garden needs pruning.

dear diary: end of July

GRAFTING PLANS
Gonna go visit the guy with the fruit trees on Sunday, going to get APRICOTS, CHERRIES, and PLUMS from him. Promptly come back and
· white NECTARINE stump: graft APRICOTS onto it
· Backyard CHERRY tree: graft low-chill CHERRIES onto it
· Backyard PLUM tree: graft low-chill PLUMS onto it

PLANTING PLANS
· TOMATO: eating and canning tomatoes
· CUCUMBER:
· ZUCCHINI:
· MELONS: what if I grow them in the EMPTY BACK BED?

DRIVEWAY BRASSICA BED
-for tomatoes later in the season? After the chooks have run through it again.
-maybe try CORN again? Or leave that in the backyard?

(FORMER) APRICOT bed
Run chooks through the area? (how?)
Manure, bucket waste, comfrey, seaweed solution, weed tea, cover with pea straw

Timing will be everything I think.

Two things I have to think about:
1. going away through September and half of October
2. the Sydney Edible Garden Trail in March 2026

Things I particularly want for the SEGT:
1. CORN (late sowing)
2. MELONS (always late)
3. APPLES (just ripe)
4. PERSIMMONS (should be in full flow)

I feel like I should plant out the garden beds before I go, but the risk is that nobody looks after my garden while I'm away and the whole thing dies...

Same with seedlings. It's kind of going to require someone to at least do some of the basics of watering my seedlings while Im gone and keeping an eye on them. I'm not sure my sister is up to the task.

To do this weekend:
Plant TOMATOES seeds
- ROMA
- eating
Plant CUCUMBER seeds
Plant ZUCCHINI seeds
Plant MELONS seends
Chop out some CHINESE CABBAGES and pickle
Prep MELON bed locations
Move chooks to NORTH DRIVEWAY BED

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!

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: 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 - 12th July 2024

INTERLUDE – around the 29th June

Digging up half the 'sweet potato bed' to plant the garlic into. It will need maintainence - the vines.

Chaffcutter doesn't work pragmatically. (blades not sharp enough? Too frequent? Cogs don't have enough grip?

Planted the Purple Turban variety in the other side of the 'sweet potato bed'. 

Covered both Rose Du Var and Purple Turban with a box of chook run material. 12th July 2024

OBSERVATIONS:

Chilly week, going to be even colder next week – possibly frost.

Garlic (rose du var) are poking through, I added some water/clay to them, but maybe need to give them a regular feeding of the various microbrews

Teen worker wasn't able to start the mower when he tried today. Might need to take it for a service.

CHOOKS:

Siyao has a clean bill of health!

Daofu is a bully to Kerry, while Gladys seems capable enough of running away, at least. But the others all make threatening moves towards the two girls.

Laying again – Caramba, possibly Siyao, Gladys and Kerry seem to be doing okay.

I need to teach Kerry and Gladys to go through to the tunnels to the tractor, where they can scratch and dig all day long!

Someone is rolling the eggs out of the laying box! This is very odd behaviour, because usually the hens want ALL the eggs.

COMPOST:

Still gathering things.

Been making leaf mulch the last week or so. Stopped because I wasn't carrying the big black boxes for the leaves, but there's SO MUCH of them around the place.

Got teen!worker to chop up the branches I had,now should be able to chip them more easily when I get around to it.

PREPARING:

SEEDING:

Tomatoes, Eggplants, capsicum - set them in the new (flimsy) greenhouse to grow

PLANTING OUT:

moved: Ginger/Turmeric roots to the new flimsy greenhouse to grow

planted out: three Brassicas (probably purple cabbage or broccoli) - also in fllimsy greenhouse

dig up brassicas in PLUM-STONE, pull out coriander, move tractor let chooks in? Still want to build better compost in the garden bed spaces, but it's only Kerry and Gladys who are doing the job.

HARVEST:

Avos, Oranges, still good, harvested some scarlet silverbeets, the peas will shortly be ready, I reckon. Still gotta try that cabbage.

FEEDING:

Some instructions about dealing with brassicas
potash - at growing heads
nitrogen - to get them started
4 wks - sulphate of ammonia (blood and bone) for better structure

PRUNING:

Was going to get the lawn guy to do it, but his dad went to hospital and he didn't know if he could get it done. (I told him to go be with his family and not worry about the lawn.)

Did a bit with J's chainsaw (best chainsaw ever) but can't do all of it.

prune the backyard trees more neatly, and with an eye to a) espalier, b) netting

THOUGHTS:

After the

TO DO LIST:

Improve the flimsy greenhouse:
- aim of a greenhouse is to warm during the day and stay warm at night.

Problem: plastic isn't going to do this; heats up fine during the day, loses it once the sun goes down.

Solution:
1. Make a cloth-cover for the flimsy greenhouse to slip it down overnight. Make sure that the cover is down by the time the sun is setting. (Old cheap blanket/quilt?)
2. Add a flat stone or two (cinderblock) for heat absorption during the day so it's not quite so brutally cold at night. Place stone on the sunwards side of the greenhouse?

what do we eat?

Planted out the rose du var garlic in the black box where there were previously potatoes.

Need to dig out the chook yard and put it in the

How much cabbage do we eat? Wombok? 1 every fornight, maybe?

How much broccoli do we eat> Maybe 1 a week if B1 can get it.

Leafy greens? Maybe 1 a week? Pick-and-come-again is more my style.

TBH, we don't eat that much vegies - in part because B1 doesn't have the energy to prep them.

plans for getting things done with young garden helper

Garden plans if young help comes over:

1. re-setting the apple espalier, which is starting to fall over! ARGH.

2. get mulch delivered and move it to the backyard paths
(2a. dig out the paths, and dump them in "compost piles"? What about a big compost pile in the 'hexabed' space?

3. dig some holes for the tea bushes (in front of the chook pen)

4. trim the trees

5. spray the trees

6. chip the branches of the trees

Saturday worked out

Helper turned up and was very helpful. Willing to take direction. Not always thinking about the next step, but a good worker. Glad to have him back if I need more work - and I probably will need help trimming the fruit trees in a few weeks after the leaves have all dropped.

It'll give me time to consider exactly how I want the layout of the trees for next season.

• dig up galangal out of lounge room vegepod
• acquire chainsaw/lopper
• acquire wooden pallets
• spray Slasher weedkiller under frangipani

plans for front lounge bed/tunnel

• dig trench for sugarcane
• chop up sugarcane for planting
• plant sugarcane & galangal

plans for chook yard

• take out sunflower branches
• rake up chook deep litter
• dig up fig, put in black box
• make platform for chook feeder
• dig hole for mulberry along boundary line
• dig hole for kumquat along fenceline (inside)
• (dig hole for apricot, lychee, apple along outside fenceline, staggered with kumquat)

extra things done

• pull out dead apricot
• plant lychee

more thoughts

• blueberries in pots - where could these go?
• still have apricot, apple, kumquat, fig(s), tea bushes, longan, black sapote, ice cream bean (sheesh I have a lot of trees)
• pruning fruit trees after fruiting
• flowering bush/shrub in box on back porch
• assorted plants out back

Improvement Plans for the next 12 mths

metal bed in triangle garden

• Garlic
• Lettuces

IBC Wicking Bed on porch

• Grape
• Passionfruit (??)

Under the Frangipani

* use slasher weedkiller on the space

• freesias
• other bulbs
• meadow seeds
• poppies

Big Vegepod

• Passionfruit up the north side from vegepod?

In front of lounge room chook run

• sugarcane, lemongrass
• ginger, galangal, turmeric
• dahlias in front? Or too close to the grass?
• fig? In a deep pot?

In front of chook yard

• kumquat - citrus, likes rich soil
• mulberry - suitable for chickens to shelter under and eat from
• apricot - likes lighter soil, not clays: build a mound? (needs potassium and phosphorus more than nitrogen), feed once a year in early spring
• black sapote
• lychee - fragile, wants protection

Dear Diary: 28th September

WEATHER:

The high temps are rising, but the low temps aren't moving - currently around 13C minimum, but getting double that during the day. 30C predicted for tomorrow, a cooler day on Sunday, then HEATWAVE for early next week. ARGH.

RAIN

Rain last night - about 5mm, I think. Cool and occasional showers today. The tank is filling, there's more due later next week, but we have to get through the heatwave first.

CHOOKS:

Laying regularly: Siyao, Goong, and Carambah. Chouqette is still fluffing around, being noisy, but not apparently laying.

OSBERVATIONS

Dandelions everywhere in the front yard. Couch grass everywhere in the back. Keeping the grass in check is a trick and one that I've not gotten the hang of. The comfrey is growing back in places I don't really want it, and there's onion weed everywhere. I think the removal of that is going to be manual and slow, season by season. It's just a PITA to have to do so often and so much!

PREPARATION:

Trying to manage the dandelions, manually pulling them out (wonderful tool) and weed-tea-ing them for compost. However the north lawn (driveway side lawn) is a bit of a loss - it's almost entirely dandelions at this stage. I've actually acquired some weed 'n feed and am trying that on the lawn, but wow it smells of iron! I did find an article about organic weed control which recommends a product called corn gluten meal.

The truth is, I don't want the lawn so much as I want to be able to develop a nice meadowy space on that north side. Grass need not apply! Unfortunately what I have is creeping buffalo grass (and couch in the backyard; ugh). It's going to need more work and maintenance in the coming season to try to get it to a point of survival - especially as the summer gets hot. That said, a meadow might survive where a garden would not.

Backyard, the couch grass is starting to perk up; I'm pulling some of it up and have weed tea'd it in a bucket off to the side. The promised teenaged assistance has not materialised, so that's a PITA, and I'm mostly pulling it up by hand (and doing my back in the process).

Got the PLUM-STONE, APPLE-CREPE, and AVO-SHED beds in. Need to get the CREPE-APRICOT bed frames cut up and put together and set in place. It wasn't difficult to do - easier with 2 people, I suspect - but it wasn't difficult.

TO DO

• cut panels for last garden bed, or else buy more barrier edging from Hammerbarn.
• draw up measurements for BENCH SEATING
• white oil/pest spray KUMQUAT, MAKRUT LIME, PERSIMMON (after heatwave, when temps have dropped again)
• repot TINY BLUEBERRY
• pot TEA CAMELLIAS
• net front NECTARINE and GOLDEN PEACH
• shade back beds

PLANTING

I repotted both the KUMQUAT and the APRICOT

ICE-CREAM BEAN seeds planted

PLUM-STONE: SPINACH (perpetual), BEANS (blue ribbon - double check this) with a climbing pole in the middle, SILVERBEET?, RADISH (black spanish), BEETROOT (found in packet, unknown type), ONION (found in plastic packet, unknown type)

PLUM-STONE: TOMATOES (both indeterminate and determinate types: indeterminates up the back with suitable structures for hanging plants off (hopefully), EGGPLANTS (labelled, but also have a pic saved and set up), BEANS (pole, possibly snake) at the back.

1 Jaune Flamme, 2 Marmande (red), 2 Brad's Atomic Grape (yellow), 2 Waspinicon Peach (orange), 3 amethyst cream (magenta), 3 blue berries (blue), 2 pink bumblebee (green)

VEGEPOD: Planted Cecelia's GINGER - I don't think the other rhizomes are GINGER, they don't smell right.

RIPENING

Last of the CITRUSES. That's really about it, I think. Other than the fruit which are slowly growing.

HARVEST

Brassica leaves from APPLE-CREPE: should be suitable for a coleslaw-type thing. Last orange, maybe a couple of tangerines? Oh PARSNIPS from bathtub. There's also CORIANDER and ALPINE STRAWBERRIES coming good, and some RED CELERY is making itself known in various spots of the garden.

PRUNING

Pruned the AVOCADO tree - it's too broad and too wide, and I'm kind of worried about the weight of the avos going forward. Not very neat, though.

THOUGHTS

Thinking I'd like to plant some groundcover in front of the chook yard, but the problem is giving it enough time to get some roots in, particularly this summer.

Dear Diary - 19th September

WEATHER:

Hot and sunny. Still heatwave - 35C easy. Middle of the day was boiling hot, I went out to check the chickens, also move things around.

RAIN

Officially, we're in El Nino territory with the an Indian Ocean Dipole which moves cooler, wetter air on the western half of the continent even further west. It's gonna be a very dry summer.

CHOOKS:

They're hot and noisy. Two eggs today, three yesterday. Free run of the front lawn, pooping everywhere and digging up things I don't want them to dig up.

OBSERVATIONS

I actually think there's a BRUSSEL SPROUT growing in the APPLE-CREPE. Not sure it's going to set the little nubs because we're heading straight for summer this year, no spring.

PREPARATION:

On Monday or Tuesday, I dug out the HOPS pot, and got about a dozen roots suitable for replanting - green leaves or budding nodes. Planted them out into four containers for the front yard, looking to vine them up the front if possible.

Actually, thinking that a vine shade will probably need a lot more things growing.

Also repotted the GRAPE (Iona) and a large BLUEBERRY. Didn't get around to the smaller blueberry or the newbie that mum gave me. Didn't manage the KUMQUAT either. BLACK SAPOTE and LYCHEE are doing okay-ish but not great. I start to feel like I need much larger pots for the trees I have to grow successfully.

Made the APPLE-CREPE bed frame, set up the netting frame and have the netting over it. Also planted into it - WOOLLY POD VETCH and a whole heap of MUSTARD. Was going to do CABBAGES (mini) but then realised what I thought was a massive envelope of seeds of a single type was actually a massive envelope of several smaller envelopes of specific cabbage varieties. Need to go through those and work out what can be used.

Realised that the permabee helpers only left me with three garden bed frames when I actually need four. Also, council clean-up is coming, and I need to toss the old garden bed frames out.

PLANTING

WOOLLY POD VETCH and MUSTARD into the APPLE-CREPE bed. Not mulched.

POT O'POPPIES under the AVOCADO, along with MARIGOLDS. Mulched.

was going to do SUNFLOWERS in the APRICOT bed and would still like to do it, but not until after I've removed things from that bed.

RIPENING

Still ALPINE STRAWBERRIES.

HARVEST

Several leafy greens ready to harvest whenever ready.

BROCCOLI in APPLE-CREPE - more leaves than florets at this stage, but leaves can be steamed and stems could be pickled.

PRUNING

Cut down more of the FOUR-APPLE tree: the DORSET/ANNA grafts are too strong. But I want to lop a fairly major limb off both grafts, trimming the tree way back to give the other grafts a sporting chance.

I've been digging up the DANDELIONS on the front verge and the northside lawn. Also been reading up on meadows and how they go wrong, as my attempt at a meadow space did the other year - grew for one year, petered out thereafter, is now entirely DANDELIONS running wild. Need to fill the holes with something, though, otherwise we'll just end up with more dandelions and we don't actually want that.

Pulled up some of the runner grass out the back, put it in a bucket for weed tea. Need to get a lid for it.

TO DO
* mulch APPLE-CREPE bed more heavily
* cut panels for last garden bed, or else buy more barrier edging from Hammerbarn.
* white oil/pest spray KUMQUAT, MAKRUT LIME, PERSIMMON (after heatwave, when temps have dropped again)
* repot MEDIUM BLUEBERRY, TINY BLUEBERRY
* plant CALLA LILIES
* pot TEA CAMELLIAS
* pot WHITE SHAHTOOT MULBERRY
* find a lid for the backyard WEED TEA (one of the new pot dishes?)
* dig around and find out what can go on the council clean-up pile
* plant BASIL in bathtub around the parsnips
* move small VEGEPODs to front lawn? We'll want the garage space back.

THOUGHTS

Given we're heading into drought, priority with the water tank is to use it for establishing the garden, then heavily mulch and water maybe once a day in the evening for 15 minutes on timer.

Not sure what to do/how to fix the carport water barrels.

2023 is here

There are AVOS in the tree, APPLES on the branches, PUMPKINS growing in the front, and TOMATOES in the triangle garden. The CORN is doing very well up in the back corner by the APPLE tree.

But oh, I'm starting to fret about the backyard and the way it's falling apart. It need a serious makeover with a solid chicken tunnel and better garden beds. Plus, I need to let some of the grasses grow back - but not the awful runner-grass that just ends up growing everywhere and is impossible to get rid of. That's starting to take over the paths because I haven't chip-mulched them in a year...

Then there's the comfrey that is refusing to stay down and dead, and which I planted all over the place and which is going to be a pest going forward...

I mean that, there, in the pic above? That's rhubarb. Something else entirely. but, yes, comfrey can be a pest, too...

Something that I'm thinking of doing this year is redesigning the 'Victory Garden' for:
a) Sydney, Australia and our temperate climates (far more variety available, and a recognition that summer temps are not going to grow cabbages and leeks very well)
b) permaculture gardens (instead of rows along a backyard which would be awful to weed)
c) my permaculture garden

It will require rethinking things in time and space. And possibly remodelling the backyard. Even remodelling the front yard.

If I think about it, I have a whole lot of garden beds available for use: not just the ones in the back which I plan to keep (PLUM-STONE, APPLE-CREPE, CREPE-APRICOT, and possibly AVO-SHED), but also the IBC (now on the porch), two small VEGEPODs the large VEGEPOD, two metal beds in the TRIANGLE GARDEN and a growing space between the espaliered apples.

Positioning them for best sunlight/productivity, while allowing the lawn to be mowed? That's another matter entirely...

I also need to find a swift-growing, easy-care lawn material that isn't runner grass... haha. Simple!

major things to do in the garden in 2023

Plant out the gingers/turmerics
I'm trying to work out where's a good place to put the bed - somewhere that gets both sun and rain. At this point, I'm landing at 'right outside the lounge room window'. I'd like to be able to separate the gingers from the turmerics, but right now EVERYTHING IS A MIX.

Trim down the backyard trees - very severely in the cases of the donut peach, plum, and the 4-stone.
The backyard needs a lot more sun, and I'd like my trees to be more vigourous, which means cutting them now rather than later (and then chipping the remainder).

Also, once the trees are reduced in size, I might be able to clamber around and look at replacing the chicken tunnels with something more solid.

Move the vegepod from next to the driveway: I would like to make a community garden, but I don't know who'll report it, or what the response from Hornsby Council is likely to be.

Move the IBC to the front porch: get assist by HD?

Set up underneath the house with green racks and storage: assist by HD?

wash all dirty plastic (incl feed bags) and get to recycling centre: could maybe ask HD to do the rinsing off/scrubbing?

clean and take all polystyrene boxes to recycling: ask HD?

move the things along the side (incl cinder blocks) to somewhere else: 

So many things to do, so little time! But at least I took apart the wicking bed in front of the lounge window, and relocated it as a temporary growing bed to between the GOLDEN PEACH and the PERSIMMON.

edible garden trail thoughts

What do I want to showcase in my garden?
what can be done in a small space
chicken keeping in suburbia
microclimates
fruit trees/orchard

How do I showcase these elements/philosophies?

not a diary entry: 2023

Feels like it's been ages since I typed up one of these. Probably because it has. It's easier to go through a list of things and think about them that way than to really contemplate what's going to happen and how to go about it.

2023 is going to be a busy year, starting with the window replacements - which are great, but I also need to work out how to seal the space under/behind the skirting boards of the house. See, there's a slight gap in most of them, and that's probably contributing to the heat loss in winter as well.

First things first, though: getting everything away from the windows, indoors and outdoors, tossing what needs to be tossed, and getting rid of what needs to be gotten rid of.

I need to work out categories for sorting things into, to store useful things together. eg. all pruning equiment, all stuff for fruit trees (fruit fly netting, stocking ties, etc.), hardware, chooks, etc.

Obviously, there'll be some overlap, but hopefully by having them collected together it'll be so much easier to find things!

Before I leave:
1. Fill a barrel with water, soak all the seed pots while I'm away to loosen the dirt.
2. Cut the porch rope into reasonable lengths coil, and store in the shed. (Exactly where? I don't know. Exactly how? I haven't the faintest idea!)
3. Toss out the stuff in the triangle sink on the porch, and put the quick-fix cement into the red bin.
4. Measure the space needed by the IBC and make space for it as needful. (Maybe swap the wooden shelving for the wire shelving at the back of the carport? MEASURE FIRST.) If there's space for it, wrestle the IBC over there.
5. Trim down the BRASSICAS in the FRONT LOUNGE bed.

When I get back, I'm going to hire someone to help me sort through things, because it's easier with someone else there to ask things of ("should I throw out this thing that I like to think I'll use but likely won't?") and someone to share the load.
6. pull out things from 'under the house', would be nice if I could work out storage racks or something there - making more space for things to be stored? Perhaps move the two/three green metal shelves under there? (The problem is getting things off the shelves and stored away while the shelves are being cleaned and moved...
7. I can't think of anything more right now, I'm tired. I'll make a list while I'm visiting K and J at Homeground 2023

Here, have a pic of B1 with a chook under her arm - the incredibly fluffy, broody, and beautiful Goong-bao:

dear diary - 6th Dec

OBSERVATIONS: The rodents have basically destroyed all the fruit in the backyard, and are working on the fruit trees. They haven't hit the avocados yet (so far as I can tell) and they may not be able to get to them on account of the avos hanging. Depends on how smart they are - whether they realise they can gnaw the things off and then eat them.

Got pest managers in to set traps and baits, and the rats have reduced around our lawn, but are still in and out of the chicken yard, and along the neighbour's fence. I think they have them under their house, too. Wondering if I should move the rat bait boxes into the chook yard...

In the front picket fence bed, the elderbush is shooting everywhere. So is the mugwort. The mugwort I still have a half-hope of digging out, but the elders put out roots all over the place. And when you dig up one, then another just keeps going! Not sure if mowing them will do the job. Am hiring a local company to do the lawn as often as needed - next one in the week before Christmas.

CHOOKS: Shantung has gone back for another implant - she had a swollen belly. Si-si has also been sitting down a fair bit; I found her just parked on the grass this morning. Might be a leg injury. I'll bring her water and some food later. A day or two later, she's recovered and seems to be in good spirits. But while Shantung is pretty spirited, she's not all that spry anymore and her abdomen still feels swollen even after they took out the fluids from it. Basically, there's another pathology going on, and the vet may not be able to do anything short of surgery. And I'm not really willing to pay for another surgery.

The chooks are being allowed to run pretty much across the front yard. They make whining noises when they're confined to the yard; there's not much there to eat or play in there, and they like nesting in the triangle bed under the citrus. It's low enough to give them cover, and thick enough that they don't feel exposed.

PRUNING & PREPARING: I put the chook tractor back on the Crepe-Apricot bed, but nothing much is happening in there - the girls don't seem to much like going in there right now. Might be the open-airness of it? Need to cover it with one of my new sacks.

I'm going to severely prune down all the backyard trees next year. Especially the Flavor Supreme plum, which doesn't produce anything at all. Or maybe I should do that now? Let them spring back over the summer/autumn, then maybe fruit in winter/spring next year? Need to think about that.

I've decided to cut down/dig out the front nectarine in the triangle garden, because it never produces edible nectarines - they go mouldy far too easily and don't grow to a decent size. If I cut it down, I could use the stump for grafting. But if I dig it out, I could put an apricot in its place. But I wonder if it's never done well because it's sharing the space with the golden peach... Also, if I could dig up the golden peach and reorient it so it's more upright, that would be excellent.

PLANTING: I'm not really in a planting mood, tbh. Should toss some stuff down - lettuces, radishes, beets, etc. Green mulches, etc. anything that will grow in the coming weeks/months. (Coriander? Needs/wants cooler weather.)

Put tiny baby potatoes in the SMALL VEGEPOD 2 (King Edwards). Trying to decide where to plant out the peanuts.

Planted out the various pumpkins into spaces where they have a chance to grow and spread (I hope), we'll see how they do! I should put something under the apple trees, but I'm still trying to kill off the grass weeds underneath, I think...

RIPENING: Peaches now, very rapidly. Lots of the potatoes in the triangle garden potato bed.

HARVEST: NECTARINES. I'm pretty much asking everyone to come by and get nectarines. Done with preserving - did that last year, still had crazy numbers, now mostly looking to give away fresh. Including making local connections if I can.

NOTES: Sydney Edible Garden Trail is next November - 4th and 5th. Before then, I would like to:
- change the chicken tunnels from the plastic wire to metal tunnels. Also make them a little wider than they were.
- change the Apricot-Avo bed to a seating space (not enough sun in summer) Maybe also consider the Avo-Shed, although that could be perennially leafy greens and maybe some green shallots which don't need all that much sun.