various links

Specifically looking at fruit tree companion planting.

companion planting site

companion plants for fruit trees (NthAm)

companion planting vegetables (NthAm)

Also have feedly'd a bunch of Australian blogs, including artist as family which I regret missing on their 'through Sydney' leg (or even their 'through Kiama' leg. Would have been awesome to see and hear their story!

a pocket full of seeds: as someone who tends to spot 'bald patches' of earth and think "dammit, that could grow some [insert vegie of choice here] very nicely," I rather like the secret subversion of it!

Also: Joel Salatin in Sydney 21st Feb | intro to permaculture

Fruit Trees and Chill Hours

I have quite a few fruit trees, some of which have been acquired over the last five years, some of which are coming to me as gifts, and a couple which I specifically bought for the new house

- lemon
- mandarin
- multi-citrus x 2
- multi-stone
- peach x 4
- avocados x 2
- multi-apple
- cherry
- persimmon
- multi-nashi

The avocados were bought for the new house. The cherry and persimmon and one of the peaches are a gift from my mother. The reason I have 3x peaches otherwise is because I bought 3 multi-stone trees and all the other grafts died.

It's the multi-nashi that's the big problem for me. I didn't read the instructions, and the plant requires high chill hours. Which means somewhere that isn't Sydney (temperate, tending to warm temperate). So I'm looking for someone to offload it to. (Currently on the list: a friend in Ballarat, Vic.) Maybe I should look at offloading at least one of the (formerly multi-stone) peaches, too? I think at least one of them still has two grafts - I'd keep that one - and one fruited this year (actually, I think that one was a nectarine, but the fruit didn't stick, so maybe...).

Mind you, I'm keeping the one with all four grafts intact!

And I'd still like an Apricot tree, straight up. But that's just me.

Also: I have decided the passionfruit can go across the side fence. I may need to nail/fasten/screw in the chicken wire for it to hang off.

Day Before Yesterday: making compost heap in driveway bed. Will be turned to new spot and planted out with a fruit tree.
Yesterday: making Compost#1 to burn off weeds and fill in the gap between Bed#2 and Bed#3. Will become Potato Heaven.
Today: turn Bed#4 north ver to burn off weeds to the north. Will become Asparagus City.

composts and other things

Eggbox seedlings are doing okay - at least, the tomatoes and zucchini and one of the watermelons are:

All those little seedlings? Tomatoes. Different types - from the black russian to the yellow pears - but tomatoes. None of the chillis. None of the eggplant. None of the capsicum. ARGH. I can't work out how to get the eggplant or capsicum seeds to germinate, but I'm going to try again. This time with really fine seed-raising mix (sand and sifted cow manure), and making sure that the seeds don't dry out.

Like the corn, both the sunflowers and the bean seeds are happily germinating away. I'm tempted to try peas, but I think they're supposed to be for later in the season?

I did end up buying a bunch of seedlings from Big Hardware Chain Of Doom. Not ideal. But I need a kickstart this year due to delayed planting. And the compost heaps are going great guns, so I have plenty of space for planting things.

You can see the two newest compost piles in the background: one covered with heshen, the other one just covered with straw. They're both still warm, so composting is happening, although they're cooling down a little. I'll turn Bed #3 and plant it out with various seedlings on Sunday night or Monday evening.

Another look at the compost heaps - with a better glance at Bed #1.

As you can see, the corn has really taken off, and is going to need a handful of vermicast per stalk before long. Except the worms aren't doing a particularly good job of making vermicast right now. It's a bit frustrating.

Maybe blending up the food before feeding it to the worms is the best way to go?

germinations

1 zucchini, 2 watermelons - although one of the watermelons has only the teeniest, tiniest solitary root. I've put it in some very rich vermicast silt to hopefully pick up some good nutrients.

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.

composts and seeds

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...

linkaroos for Nov

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.