The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, so I haven't had a chance to post a weekly round-up since the end of Sept. Being in the running for NZ Gardener of the Year is lots of fun! I've been interviewed and photographed by two reporters, and have an email interview to respond to this week. I've given one talk and am preparing for another, with others booked in the future, and I had a group tour my garden this afternoon. In the meantime.....what's been happening in my garden? Lots!
My greenhouse had become crowded and messy, and the weeds were growing all around, not to mention if was very wet in places after all the rain, so I emptied it completely, laid thick newspaper down after pulling the worst of the weeds, and then covered it deeply in the remains of the sawdust/calf manure that my son collected last year. For now, that makes a tidier floor and supresses weeds; when the new glasshouse is built in it's place, it will make great soil for planting.
Then I put back shelves and tables around the sides, along with a new table I acquired cheap from the op shop, covered in a trailer tarp. Pallets underneath provide storage space for bags and boxes.
Then I put back shelves and tables around the sides, along with a new table I acquired cheap from the op shop, covered in a trailer tarp. Pallets underneath provide storage space for bags and boxes.
There are seedlings everywhere! While the greenhouse plastic is now pretty much only held on by virtue of the pallets I've leaned against walls and placed on the roof, it's still providing a sheltered, warm place for germinating and growing seedlings. Which is just as well, as we've had continuous strong, cold winds!
The greenhouse is now a pleasure to work in. Looking forward to the new glasshouse when we can afford framing timber, but for now I enjoy pottering in here!
The greenhouse is now a pleasure to work in. Looking forward to the new glasshouse when we can afford framing timber, but for now I enjoy pottering in here!
I gained a lot of hazelnut cuttings through Freecycle, and am attempting to root them. I soaked them first in Willow Water - which encourages roots and boosts their immune system. I've read since I got them that hazelnuts don't root well from cuttings, so we'll see how this goes.
Am also going the same with some grape cuttings also gained through Freecycle.
Am also going the same with some grape cuttings also gained through Freecycle.
I gave a talk at the local library which went well......it was more in the "show and tell" style. I wanted to show people ways you can begin to grow food without spending much money. There are so many things you can do free or very cheaply, especially when you learn to keep your eyes open for possibilities!
I've built and planted the first of the pallet beds that will run alongside the sleepout, containing leaf lettuce and similar. The pallet is on top of cardboard to suppress the grass, and will eventually be surrounded by paths covered in pine needles. Using a pallet works well for shallow-rooted plants such as strawberries and lettuce. The timbers help to keep the roots cool, and act as solid mulch, reducing weeds. The location of this pallet is such that it will get morning sun, but be shaded by the building in the afternoons, when the sun is hottest, which is great for lettuces which prefer it cooler.
With help from my husband, I put together this excellent small worm farm set-up, based on a design I saw in a book called "Green Urban Living" by Janet Luke. Excellent book too - lots of great ideas, lovely photos etc!
My son helped me put together my new pallet compost bins - two bins are up so far, with the third to be done in the next day or so. I'm going to leave the middle bin empty for now, so I can walk into that space and reach the grapes that will be on the grapevine behind it over summer; the first bin has the nearly finished compost in it that was in a pile where the wheelbarrow is sitting, and I will build a new pile in the third bin. By the time the grapes have been harvested, I'll be ready to use the middle bin.
Yesterday I set up a drum of water with a sack of fresh manure soaking in it to make a manure tea for the garden. The sack is suspended off a piece of timber, and every time I wander past, I life one end of the timber like a lever, dunking and swishing the "tea bag" sack. It's already looking like a pretty good brew!!
What do you see here? A pile of old bicycle wheels you say? I see all sorts of trellises! One wheel suspended horizontally on top of a pole, with strings coming down would be great for peas or beans to grow up. 2 or 3 wheels attached one above the other to a pole or waratah with cable ties would make a cool trellis too. Or I love an idea I saw on Facebook - lots of wheels cable tied together forming a quarter of a sphere over a steel frame - making a curved trellis to grow a vine on, and a lovely shaded play-hut for kids underneath, or if you did it bigger, a great place for a garden seat! Lots of ideas - watch this space!
I finished clearing this bed, added compost, Rok Solid and Blood & Bone, and then have sown it in buckwheat as a cover crop. The buckwheat will be ready to cut or pull in only 4 weeks, when it will be a great mulch as I plant the bed with tomatoes. Buckwheat is also great for the bees, who love the flowers, and if you were to grow it longer is an excellent, tasty and gluten-free grain. The net curtains are laid over the bed until it sprouts to keep off the blackbirds which have been constantly digging in my garden of late!
I've mulched the tyres with sheep's wool from last year's shearing. It makes a great mulch - supressing weeds, holding moisture, releasing carbon and nitrogen as it breaks down, and looks and smells pretty nice too.
This red currant bush is looking SO healthy! I've promised myself I will NOT water it with chlorinated (tap) water this summer - if I do the leaves turn brown and the whole plant looks awful!
I planted broad beans with spinach in alternate rows - the spinach will shade the soil, and the broad beans will shade the spinach - making them both happy! I put a wide stake at each end of the broad bean rows, and wrapped string around them and down each side of the broad beans, which supports them in the wind. I'll add more lines of string as the plants grow. I did criss-cross with string too, thinking the cats were digging up my plants, but it's birds, not the cats, so that hasn't been very effective.
When you have noxious or really tenacious weeds in your garden, tossing them in the compost bin is a bad idea; they just keep growing. I have creeping buttercup and couch grass in mine; I pull it out roots and all and place in a black plastic bag in the sun for a few weeks until the heat kills them. Then I can compost them. The other alternative is to place in a drum of water for a couple of months, in which time they rot down into a really excellent brew for the garden; the remaining solids can be composted. I need to get some more drums before I can do that.
I planted out 3 zucchini and 3 spinach plants - a bit early for the zucchini, but I decided to risk it (I have more sown in the greenhouse in case a frost gets these ones, but if not I'll get an early harvest). The wind is wicked, and quickly flattens seedlings, so I've protect them with plastic bottles with the top and bottom cut off. This also keeps snails off while they get established.
I visited a local stables and asked if they had any spare horse manure - they pointed at a huge pile of stable cleanings, and so far my darling kids have brought home 18 trailer loads, which we're piling on the front lawn (on top of paper/cardboard to suppress the grass) so it can finish composting, and then we will spread it out and plant veges in it. It really needs some extra nitrogen added, so I may contact a local lawn-mower crew and invite them to dump some loads of grass clippings here. There is still a lot more manure/sawdust to collect, which is getting done a little at a time when someone is free.
I even cleaned out my garden sink - and Fluffy immediately decided it was a new place for her to sleep! This cat just LOVES to sleep in my garden beds - so this is an improvement as far as I'm concerned; the peas she kept lying on haven't really recovered!
Well, that's it for this post - I hope I've inspired you with some new ideas!
Well, that's it for this post - I hope I've inspired you with some new ideas!
RSS Feed
