Nothing else in that box appears to be germinating, and I planted the box back around the 8th-10th Nov, so it's taken the better part of three weeks to germinate. The eggplants I seeded are not germinating at all. :(
Tomorrow or Saturday will be The Turning Of Compost #2 and #3, and I think I'll dump half of Compost #2 on Compost #3, and plant Compost #2 out with...well, anything I can. At this point, probably herbs. Unless I buy some eggplants from bunnings. I'm iffy about that.
Compost #2 was cooling, so I turned it, raking about half of it out to help make Compost #3, which also added the leaf/lawn mulch from Thursdays mowing. I left Compost #2 on the same site because I didn't really have anything with which to plant it out, and I wanted the layers to break up a bit better.
Both Compost #2 and Compost #3 are warm, tending to hot inside. Compost #2 is really hot, while Compost #3 is just warm on the outside (but hot in the middle).
I'm a bit worried by the way Compost #2 and #3 are releasing nitrogen, though - the compost heaps have a distinct smell. I'm tempted to rake out half of compost #2 and turn it into compost #4, adding carbon matter to both #2 and #4, but it's a bit late in the day to do that now and I'm working tomorrow.
Maybe we'll see what comes of Compost #2 and the 2nd turning - supposed to be more hummus-like by the 2nd turning. Hopefully my seeds will have sprouted and there will be things to plant by then! (Looking at the weekend, since I'm going away the week after. Argh. Must get sister to keep an eye on the garden...)
Seeds are not germinating. Well, some are, others are not. The tomatoes visible in the pic all sprouted in the fruit pots and were transplanted out when they were big enough.
I don't seem to have much luck with capsicum and eggplant in particular, and the rarer tomatoes (that don't grow from the self-seeding cherry tomatoes) also don't take too well. A couple of pumpkins seeds sprouted, only to die in the heatwave on Friday. I think the zucchinis are giving it a go - one of them popped leaves today. I hope so. Zucchiiiiniiiissss...
Acquired some black cherry tomato seedlings. Need to plant them out. Should have done it this PM, except it was raining. At this rate, they won't get planted out until Wednesday evening. :(
I keep a more detailed paper diary - easier to just make notes there. This is more of a public infodump.
So, Bed 2 is composting nicely - steam rising from the 'vents', hot to the touch, the initial scent of nitrogen is giving way (I suspect I have too much nitrogen in my heaps - they smell very distinctly for the first day or two, then settle down.)
This one is going to be turned onto another space to keep composting (on Monday) and will be planted out - hopefully with the seedlings that will have sprouted by then. *glares at her seedlings* SPROUT DAMN YOU!
The pumpkins have germinated, so they can go on the sides. I hope the watermelons germinate. The cucumber has decided to come up in Bed 1 (eventually), and the tomatoes in the Salad Box are starting to sprout.
And I think I have a potato growing in one of my fruit tree pots.
Speaking of which, I need to get the avocadoes into bigger pots. And then out in the garden. And decide where the watering system is going to go and how to arrange it.
SO MANY THINGS.
Including this small detail about aerobic compost heaps:
1. they get really hot.
2. as in really, really hot.
I put down some seedling boxes on the compost heap to take advantage of the heat...and they warped. Hopefully not releasing toxic chemical gases that inhibit the germination of...oh crap. :(
*sigh*
Anyway, I've started to mark out where the next garden beds will be. Fairly crudely, but enough to get the idea of what and where and how.
There is a small issue of the paths, however. They're still grass at this point, and I rather like walking on the grass. Long-term, however, the grass is going to try climbing up my garden beds, which I really don't want.
Finally, I need to get my vermicast production up. Which means locating a cheap and old blender for whizzing up worm food so the worms can easily consume it. I think my chunks of food are not working so well for them right now. And we might have to supplement from the local grocery store.
I wonder if there's an organic grocer at the local shopping centre...
Sweet potatoes...with personality! LittleEcoFootprints
Fruit
Beans
Capsicum
Chilli
Cucumber
Eggplant
Melons
Peas
Pumpkin
Squash
Sweet Corn
Tomato
Zucchini
Stem and Leaf
Celery
Endive
Leek
Lettuce
Rhubarb
Silver beet
Spinach
Root
Beetroot
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Might do a cover crop in the woodchip garden, and maybe along the picket fence, then plant the fruit trees out there in autumn.
The corn is growing well – I planted more in Garden Bed 1, and the lettuces/mustards are germinatingly nicely in both Bed 1 and Salad Box.
As are the cucumber and tomatoes of Salad Box:
A friend recommended planting the cucumber out among the corn, so it would grow up the corn. Which I might do in a week or so.
Unfortunately, the shrooms are also sprouting happily in Bed 1, fuelled by the composting and the cool. I keep having to dig them up. And I think I have slugs there, too. Will have to look at beer/fruit traps, and getting rid of them.
I pulled up some of the weed carpet to make Compost Bed 2:
Looks like it has some worm activity beneath all that, so decent drainage? We’ll see how Bed 2 (composting) does.
This one’s going to be a compost pile for the next couple of weeks, after which I plan to turn it over, rake out about quarter of it for the multi-apple that’s going on one side of it, and another quarter for the avocado that’s going on the other side, and plant it with various seedlings that will have hopefully sprouted by then.
It’s too wide, though, and I think it’s losing too much heat through surface area. There’s a sliiiiight warmth in the middle this morning (admittedly, I only made it yesterday), but not enough for the kind of composting I want. So tonight is pickup night for a bunch more manures, and tomorrow will be ‘completion of the compost heap’ with another five or so layers – enough to make it about ½ a metre high and get it hot composting decently.
I planted watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini, and eggplant seeds in a clear plastic box with a lid: If they sprout, I’ll plant the watermelon and pumpkin on the sides of Bed 1, and perhaps up against the fence for Bed 2.
Tomatoes, chillis, and capsicum – at least the chillis and capsicum – are next for the planting box. I should have done them last week, but let myself get distracted by the garage sale. Maybe I’ll do some carrots and onions on the ‘quiet’ side of Bed 1 as well – and put coffee grounds to deter the slugs? Must find somewhere that I can get used coffee grounds – so many cafes around here, surely they get rid of some?
The noble art of scavenging. Easier than it sounds.
Planted corn, carrots, and spring onions, tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, and cucumber. Corn, carrots, and spring onions germinated - YAY!
Forgot to water during a hot day (and the gardening calender advised against watering) and all but three of the corn died. BOO.
Moved into the house. Brought all my fruit trees and several planter boxes (wish I'd asked them to bring all the garden things over - now I'll have to get them over in my car, getting my car dirty in the process).
Everything has survived, although I think the citrus are in a little shock right now - they're getting a full day's sun after years of mostly shady afternoon sun. I have to remember to water them rather more regularly than I used to. One more thing to do.
I'm filling a planter box with 'salad vegies' - lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers. Added oregano to the planter box with sage growing in it. And tried to sprout some more asparagus in the passionfruit planter box.
On the 28th, planted more corn, tomatoes, cucumber, melons, pumpkins in the compost heap which has now cooled down (it was hot for nearly two weeks). It doesn't quite look like it's fully composted - at least not on the outer levels - lots of white mould-ish looking things, and a mushroom that decided to grow out of the side of the compost - but otherwise we'll hope. And keep it watered this time.
Must remember to get to the North Shore Permaculture meeting.
Have to contact gardener about mowing the lawn and helping sort out the garden beds. I want the underlayer pulled up and the woodchips mulched. That will take some major deliveries of manure and straw, I think. And working out where is good to grow the cherry, doughnut peach, and fuyu persimmon my mother is giving me. I know where the raspberry canes are going.
So much to do, so little time. But the small garden bed is the first priority. That, and working out where the fruit trees should go.
I hope the seeds I planted on the 28th do better...
Newspaper, cow manure, sugar cane mulch, woodchips, cow manure, shredded paper, cow manure, sugar cane mulch
Needs another five or so layers I think: chook poo, lucerne, cow manure, woodchips, chook poo, sugar cane mulch
Then planting on top:
- ccrn seeds, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, onion tops, cucumber seedlings
Seed raising mixture:
- coir fibre, perlite (vermiculite?), mushroom compost?
I was going to grow corn up against the fence, but I think I'll go for beans, or maybe a passionfruit in that spot. Corn in the centre of the no-dig bed, so I don't have to reach in to grab things.
--
From Hargreaves Nursery:
SEEDLINGS TO PLANT NOW
Flowers: Alyssum, Amaranthus, Aster, Begonias, California Poppy, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlia, Dianthus, Gerbera, Gypsophila, Impatiens, Lobelia, Marigold, Nasturtium, Petunia, Salvia, Snapdragon, Verbena, Vinca, Zinnia.
Vegies: Beans, Beetroot, Cabbage, Capsicum, Carrots, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Chilli, Cucumber, Eggplant, Endive, Leek, Lettuce, Melons, Onions, Peas, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Rhubarb, Silverbeet, Spinach, Squash, Sweet corn, Tomato, Zucchini.
