New Growth

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 28:08:2010:

The second round of Almond trees are blooming.

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min -2.6C
Lowest Max 10.5C
Highest Max 14.3C
10.8mm Rain

What's the weather been like in the garden?
Cold, wet and very windy all week!!

With weather that bad there's only one thing to do!

A trip up north to visit the Grandtwins!

The nine week old twins loved
their first toys (tiny rattles)
from their Poppy Doc!!

Propagation:
Seeds:
Bean 7 Year Phaseolus coccineus (Seeds from a friend last year)
Bean Winged Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (Eden Seeds)
Pigeon Pea Cajanus cajan syn. Cajanus indicus (Seeds from a friend in Qld)
Seakale Crambe maritima (Pheonix Seeds)
These all went into punnets and were put into the very crowded hothouse!

Planting out:
Small Parsnips were dug up and planted around the edge beds in the hope that they will flower and attract beneficial insects.

In the Garden This week:
New growth is everywhere. The garden is slowly waking up.

The plum tree is bursting to bloom!

New Rhubarb leaves are unfurling.

The Tagasaste is in bloom.

Even the early planted Dutch Cream Potatoes
are emerging...
...they are covered at night in case of a snap frost!

With the extra rain this year weeds are everywhere! Fortunately a few of them are lettuce seedlings and I have been harvesting the leaves for the salad sandwiches we take with us when traveling.

Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Cabbage Ethiopian***60g
Cauliflower Mini***581g
Lettuce Green and Red mix***50g
Parsley Curled***50g
Radish Cherry Belle***35g
Shallots Red***30g

Eggs
19 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
14 From the 4 Barnevelders
20 From the 5 Faverolles

To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE

Lizards On The Move!

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 21:08:2010:

The warmest day this week saw the first lizard on the move!

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 1.5C
Lowest Max 10.3C
Highest Max 18C
22mm Rain

What's the weather been like in the garden?
Again a week of mixed weather that included a very loud thunderstorm! No icy mornings and one warm day before it was blown away by strong winds again.

Propagation:
Seeds:
Cucumber Crystal Apple Cucumis sativus (Phoenix Seeds)
Cucumber Crystal Apple Lemon Cucumis sativus (The Lost Seed)
Cucumber Lebanese Cucumis sativa (Phoenix Seeds)
Cucumber White Wonder Cucumis sativus (The Lost Seed)
Kale Tuscan Black (Cavalo Nero) Brassica oleracea (Diggers)
Lettuce Crispmint Lactuca sativa (Diggers)
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus (DT Brown)
Pumpkin Hercules Butternut Cucurbita moschata (New Gippsland Seeds)
Pumpkin Lady Godiva Cucurbita pepo (The Lost Seed)
Pumpkin Potimarron Cucurbita maxima (Diggers)
Pumpkin Queensland Blue Cucurbita maxima (Phoenix Seeds)
Pumpkin Waltham Butternut Cucurbita moschata (The Lost Seed)
Rockmelon Delicious 51 PMR Cucumis melo subsp. melo (Phoenix Seeds)
Squash Winter Delicata Cucurbita pepo var. pepo (Phoenix Seeds)
Squash Winter Sweet Meat Cucurbita pepo var. pepo (Phoenix Seeds)
Sunflower Sun King Helianthus annus (DT Brown)
Watermelon Blacktail Mountain Citrullus lanatus (Phoenix Seeds)
Watermelon Golden Midget Citrullus lanatus (Diggers)
Watermelon Sugarbaby Citrullus vulgaris (Eden Seeds)
Zucchini Cocozelle Cucurbita pepo (The Lost Seed)
Zucchini Golden Cucurbita pepo (Eden Seeds)
Zucchini Romanesco Cucurbita pepo (Phoenix Seeds)
Zucchini Rondo De Nice Cucurbita pepo (Eden Seeds)

Potting up:
Tomato - Green Zebra, Kotlas, Ida Gold, Sunrise, Red Cherry, Silvery Fir Tree
Tomatillo
An organic Orange Sweet Potato (Kumera) was put into a container and placed on the heated propagation tray to see if it will sprout!

Planting out:
Grapevines x 2 on the Chook Run fence.

In the Garden This week:

Yet more Tomatoes and the Tomatillos have been potted on and placed in the hothouse.

More spring seeds have been sown.
Yes more than I'll ever use BUT
FIRST they have to germinate,
THEN the have to survive any frosts until planting,
THEN they have to survive any frosts after planting!
If too many survive at the end (they usually do) then there are friends and fellow community gardeners to share the leftovers with.

The Onions in the Dog Pen Beds have taken off with the rain we've had. That's a volunteer Coriander growing in the middle of the row!


Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Beetroot Golden***150g
Cabbage Ethiopian***60g
Chicory Red Ribbed Dandelion***30g
Kale Mixed***150g
MangelWurzel***550g
Parcel***65g
Parsley***75g
Parsnip Hollow Crown***1026g
Radish Cherry Belle***35g
Silverbeet Mixed***250g
Shallot Red***30g

Eggs
18 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
17 From the 4 Barnevelders
14 From the 5 Faverolles

To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE

Websites or addresses for the seed suppliers are listed on the page My Seed Suppliers Here

More Spring Seeds

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 14:08:2010:

More spring seeds have been sown, greens this time!

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min -2.8C
Lowest Max 8.7C
Highest Max 15C
11.5mm Rain

What's the weather been like in the garden?
Frosty mornings, strong windstorms and some more rain...winter is hanging in there!!

Propagation:
Seeds:
Amaranth Leaf Amaranthus gangeticus (Eden Seeds)
Amaranth - Grain Amaranthus hypochondriacus (Eden Seeds)
Basil - Large Sweet Italian Ocimum basilicum (The Lost Seed)
Basil - Mrs Burns Lemon Ocimum basilicum (The Lost Seed)
Basil Purple Ocimum basilicum cv purpurascens (Phoenix Seeds)
Corn Salad Valerianella locusta (Phoenix Seeds)
Fennel Florence Foeniculun vulgare var. azoricum (Phoenix Seeds)
Lettuce Red and Green Mixed Lactuca sativa (Mr Fothergill's Seeds)
Kohl Rabi Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes (DT Brown)
Onion Spring Allium fistulosum (DT Brown)
Queen Anne's Lace Ammi majus (Cornucopia)
Silverbeet 'Rainbow Mix' Beta vulgaris (4 Seasons Seeds)
Spinach Malabar(Ceylon) Red Basella rubra (Cornucopia)
Spinach Malabar Green Basella alba (Eden Seeds)

Potting up:
Tomatoes:

• Black Russian
• Kotlas
• Green Zebra
• Red Oxheart

Globe Artichokes
Nasturtiums

In the Garden This week:
Not all the greens seeds needed to go on the heated tray (luckily) so these are just on a shelf in the hothouse.

The tomatoes are germinating well and some have been potted up already. They have been moved to the hothouse for growing on.

The Violet Sicilian and Mini Cauliflowers
will be ready to harvest soon!

Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Broccoli Nutri-Bud***97g
Cabbage Ethiopian***25g
Cauliflower Mini***55g
Chicory Red Ribbed Dandelion***14g
Kale Mixed***98g
Radish Cherry Belle***27g
Silverbeet Mixed***314g
Shallot Red***15g
Tomato Tigerella***35g (found in the hot house!!!)

Eggs
15 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
15 From the 4 Barnevelders
11 From the 5 Faverolles

To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE

Websites or addresses for the seed suppliers are listed on the page My Seed Suppliers Here

Back to Winter

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 07:08:2010:

Friday Night's crescent moon faced upwards like a cup
and heralded the weekend rain.

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min -3.1C
Lowest Max 8.9C
Highest Max 13C
5mm Rain

What's the weather been like in the garden?
After a miserable start to the week the sun finally showed it's face on Thursday. That was after a very icy morning of -3.1C. The temperatures struggled to rise above 10C all week just managing to climb to 13C on Saturday. So much for the hint of Spring last week!

Propagation:
None this week

In the Garden This week:

I have begun to dismantle the old chook pergola in the old chook run as it is no longer in use. Now that the gum tree has died in that corner I have some more space to grow. We have cut down the lower branches of the Almond tree that has grown over from the property at the rear of our place. This tree has also died in recent years, the prolonged drought in our region is taking a toll on the older trees and they are dying off one by one.

This will give me some new Wicking Beds with space to grow some rambling pumpkins and also another bed for potatoes!

Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Beetroot Golden***267g
Kale Mixed***84g
Radish Cherry Belle***81g
Silverbeet Mixed***50g

Eggs
10 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
16 From the 4 Barnevelders
17 From the 5 Faverolles

To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE

A Little Spring In The Air

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 31:07:2010:

The old Almond tree is nearly dead

but it's still managing to put on an early blossom show!

Temperatures this week:

Lowest Min -1.2C
Lowest Max 13C
Highest Max 18C
2mm Rain

What's the weather been like in the garden?
The days are slowly warming up enough to enjoy working in the garden. We've had the odd frosty morning, a little rain and ended the week with some windy weather again!

The days are warming up enough for the bees to be out,
this one found the orange
Calendulas in the Almond Area.

Propagation:
Seeds:
Peas Climbing Sugar Snap (Diggers) into loo rolls and put in the hothouse for a head start on germination as the soil is still very cold at this time of the year.

Potting up:
Jostaberry Ribes nidigrolaria cuttings
Prostrate Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' cuttings
Larkspur Delphinium consolida seedlings
Galangal rhizomes Alpinia galangal (Green Harvest) into pots placed in the hothouse. Growing Info Here

Planting Out:
Strawberry Lowanna (New Gippsland Seeds)

Cuttings:
Variegated Elderberry Sambucus nigra variegata
White Correa Correa alba

In the Garden This week:

The bathtub in the water-garden shade house has been harvested of any remaing Waterchestnuts (these have been cleaned for re-planting). The soil in the tub was in good condition and I've added a small bag of cow manure to re-supplement it for another crop. New corms (the larger from those harvested) have been planted and the soil moistened. A plastic cover was put over the bathtub to keep the frosts off. As the Waterchestnuts grow I'll fill the tub with water again.

In a broccoli box nearby some Watercress seedlings are emerging and I didn't even plant them.

The Sapphire Potatoes that had grown away in the hot house have now been planted into bed 2 in the Main Veg Garden. Some chitted Dutch Cream potatoes have been planted next to them. This is an early trial planting. The bed will need a plastic cover to protect the emerging foliage from frosts but I'm hoping it will mean the potatoes have a good chance of cropping before the real heat of summer arrives early next year.

The Tomato seeds planted last week have started to germinate, as have the Nasturtiums and Globe Artichokes from the heated bed. They now spend their days by the sunny window in the caravan where the heat-bed is housed this year!

Also emerging are the Alyssum and Thyme
in the hothouse.
The insert is a close up of the tiny thyme seedlings.

I cleared a tub (an old 200 litre drum, cut down) in the Main Veg Garden and planted some Strawberry Lowanna plants. I've left a few volunteer Italian Parsley seedlings and the Anise Hyssop (which is showing signs of re-growth) to grow with them.

The Roi de Carouby Snow Peas were out growing their fleece covering so I've replaced it with longer pieces (the old piece was used to cover the potatoes until I get some plastic!)

Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Beetroot-Golden***169g
Broccoli Nutri Bud***261g
Carrots Chantenay Red-cored***809g
Celery - Tendercrisp***42g
Kale Mixed***283g
MangelWurzel***121g
Parsnips Hollow Crown***122g
Peas Sugar Snap***67g
Radish Cherry Belle***50g
Silverbeet Rainbow Mixed***200g
Spinach Bloomsdale Long Standing***27g

Eggs
17 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
15 From the 4 Barnevelders
21 From the 5 Faverolles

To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE