Worms are GO !!!

 Worm "Kingdom"...

The Worms are in their new home...Had to remove a wardrobe to make some room first... It was dismantled & the backing ply was nailed to the batons behind the farm to make a sun block with the rest being saved to be used as shelving... The wire frame at the base of the farm was covered with some weed mat fabric..
  3 Coir blocks were hydrated in water & were added to the Farm as bedding... This we also be food for them as well... 1 brick swells out to about 7-8L of bedding...





The top 2 trays of the old Farm were tipped on top of the Coir, food was added down one end & some newspaper & shade cloth was laid on top... We are very happy with the result.. The only change that may be made is a more sturdier base... Will just see how this one holds up...

The castings harvester was a bit of a let down... The castings were still too damp & just formed balls... We ended up going back to the proven method of just fishing them out with our hands...
We didn't get as much Castings as we thought but should be enough for the seedlings we need to plant out..

  Pests in the Patch...

Got some good shots of the White Cabbage Butterfly eggs yesterday...
I squished 9 on 1 leaf alone on a Red Cabbage... Don't think the bread clips are working so plan "B" is going into effect tomorrow... The Girls & I will be cutting out little imitation Butterflies tomorrow to hang around the Patch... The butterflies are supposed to be territorial so when they see our mock ups bouncing around, they should nick off to another garden..
The Shallots & spring Onions are being attacked by these little fellas on the Left... 7 were pulled from a square foot of onions... The little bugs on the Right are having a field day on the eggplant's, pumpkins  & a few other plants...  

Got a bit of a surprise when checking Koo's Strawberry Barrel...  A Chinese Elm had decided to take up residence... I thought our days of them being a problem were over, but alas there have been a few pop up over the last few weeks in the beds...                               

Strawberry Barrel # 2...

Planted out the Red Strawberry & the pot of others we saved from Bed #1 a few months back... They are situated at the end of Bed #4 under the slightly over pruned Lemon tree... The Lemon tree is packed with fruit which is great, & has more flowers appearing on it all the time... There is also a feral Tomato growing through it which is doing quite nicely...
Flowers...

Some of the Rainbow Silverbeet has produced a rather stunning Flower spike... Hopefully we will get heaps of seed as we are looking at planting out the back of the Chook pen with Silverbeet for the Lady's... The Galangal is rather surprising... It has a very delicate sent that is very nice...

Weekly Harvest...
Orange Chillies, Baby & Mature Carrots, a few KG's of Mini Roma Tomato's, Mini Golden Nugget pumpkin,  Strawberries, assorted Herbs, Beans, Eggplant,  3 eggs a day & the Mutant Zuccumpkin... Shall be interesting to see what it looks like once it is opened this week...


That about it for now...
Have a great one all...
: )»

Worm Harvester MK I

Worm Harvester MK I.....           

Have been a tad busy writing reports & curriculum for next year so have only just gotten around to finishing off the Worm harvester this morning...

It is only a "Dodgy Brothers" attempt until I can find a few more bits & pieces... Just need it to do this batch of castings so we can put the Worms into their new home...

Hopefully there should be a fair amount of work done in the garden tomorrow, Bilious willing...

Saving Seed...

Koo insisted I put the picture to the Left in.... She has had her eye on that bean for the last few days... : )»
Managed to save some of the unknown beans.. I already have a place for them to go once they finish drying out...

That's all for now me thinks...

Have a great one all...
: )»

When bad Chooks almost get roasted !!!

AHHHHHHRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Have been Busy with Moo's school report so haven't paid much attention to the back yard today...

 The Chooks were aware of my predicament & I fear have been planing this escape over the last few days... They have been scratching dirt into a pile against the gate which makes it hard for the girls to close properly... Today was their day !!!


    ***SIGH***

 Not much damage was done ...

Lost a beetroot or 2, all the Pac Choi

 & I fear for an Eggplant seedling....

The gate is fixed.....
Seasonings picked for next escape....
Such is.....

Have a great one peoples....
: )»

The Worm Kingdom !!

Worm Farm...
Finished the Worm Farm on the weekend....

All that is needed is to line the base with some weed cloth, add the soaked coir block as bedding, some food & the worms... The only bits purchased was the barrel, latches, rivets & some washers... The rest was found around the house...
Some 75% shade cloth was used  for the air vents... The vents were framed with off cuts of aluminium I saved from when we had the louvres replaced... The hinges & flat used on the door were left overs from old cabinet & cupboards that have been recycled for the timber & accessories... The grate in the base are racks from a scrapped oven topped with some square mesh... The stand is made from an old phone table & some saved bed frame timbers... The tap assembly is from left over Irrigation supplies......  A start was made on the Worm harvester today...(Right) It shouldn't take much to knock up the frame...

Pests...

Well, as you can see (left) the bread clips didn't do anything to stop the White Cabbage butterfly's... I am thinking about cutting out little White Cabbage butterfly's out of ice cream containers, as suggested  on a gardening  thread on the  Simple Savings wed site, & hanging them over the plants most attacked by them.....   The Caterpillar on the Right is on the Tahitian Lime... There were about 15 of them having a great little feast... They now all be Chook food.... Still haven't found the Butterfly species they belonged to but the Lime comes first unfortunately for them...

Not to certain what sort of fungus this is that has grown around a Red Cabbage seedling... The plant appears not to be affected at all.... These growths have popped up a few times in the bed over that past few months...
The Turnips shall all be harvested tomorrow... Not all of them are quite full grown but they need to come out due to having a mildew problem..They are in the same bed as the Cucumbers which I think are more valuable in the long run...

Babies...
I didn't get around to hooking up the Wetpot garden down the side of the house or setting up the 2 Wicking Barrels with more Strawberries & the Cape Gooseberries out the back... There is always later as end of year reports for school must come first...

Weekly Harvest...
The havested veg havent changed much this week....
Lettuce,  Beetroot leaves, Orange Chillies, Turnips, Baby Carrots, Tomato's, Strawberries, assorted Herbs/Lime leaves, Beans, Eggplant, & 3 eggs a day...
 Koo picked the Turnips in the picture by accident while trying to pick some leaves for the Girls.. Such is as they are all getting picked, blanched & vacuum sealed for future stews & casseroles tomorrow hopefully...

We also had 5.7mm of rain according to Weather Zone...

That's about it for now...
Have a great one all....

: )»

Slow going....

Had another slow week here.... We have been busy tying up all the loose ends with Moo's schooling so have been house bound trying to keep her motivated....

Worm Farm...
The door/hatch of the new Worm Kingdom has been completed... some air vents, plumbing & flooring need to be installed & then it shall be done.... I have tried to make it as insect proof as possible but I don't really think that is necessary as long as too much food isn't added.. Rodent proofing it is a bit more important & think that has been achieved...


 The Babies...

The trellis wire for the Tomato's was installed today.... I am going to attempt to train these as the professional growers do after watching a few clips online...
 The plants in the seedling trays (left) should be all planted out this weekend into the new Wetpot garden up the side of the house...
There has been a few Red Cabbage seedlings die off this week... I have a niggling thought in the back of my mind that the last soil mix we got to top up the beds may be a bit to rich in Pine Tree sawdust.. I have been told that the Pine trees oil/sap can inhibit the growth of other plants.... Will just have to wait & see me thinks....

Have a great one all...
: )»

Update in Pictures...

Update Shots....
Not much going on planting wise in the garden at the moment...
The Caped Gooseberry seedlings in the trays (Left front 2 trays) are still not big enough to be potted out & we are still waiting for some more Udumalapet Eggplant seeds (Left rear tray) to germinate.. Might just have to try again with the Eggplant... There is a bit of "action" in the Passion fruit tray (Right) with what looks to be Tomato, Eggplant, Chilli/Capsicum & what may yet turn out to be a single Passion fruit, seedlings sprouting...

The 2 beds that were planted out the other week are going very well.... The Kohlrabi (Left) & Red Cabbage (Right) roots have settled in nicely & don't require watering any more...     





The Pac Choi in Bed #3 (Left) has germinated but still no sign of the Lettuce that was planted in Bed #4... 
The Zucchini barrels had some Lebanese Zucchini seeds planted in them mid last week as the seedlings we purchased were just so pitiful.. They have now shot so the seedlings got yanked out today ...

The Red Flowered Strawberry (Left) has some interesting Fruit that taste just as good as any other I have had... The Cucumbers (Right) have started to fruit... I have been fertilising the Female flowers myself so as to guarantee some fruit.. All the bees appear to be more interested in the neighbours clover than our garden... Such is...

The Orange Chillies are ripening  & looking great... We are still getting heaps of Rainbow Silverbeet for ourselves & the Chooks at the moment... From the base of the plants you can tell just how productive they have been....

The Mini Roma Tom's (Left) are ripening & tasting great... The next lot of Tomato's (Right) are coming on nicely & were joined by some Celery seedlings during the week... Both the Chilli/Capsicum in the bed have picked up as well... There are also a couple of Capsicum & Eggplants behind the trellis at the end that we are going to let live...

Pest/Disease Control...

I am trialling a new deterrent for the common garden pest, the White Cabbage Butterfly... Apparently they are territorial & will not lay eggs where they see another Butterfly so I have put white bread bag clips on a few Beetroot & Turnip leaves to see if they help... If they do I shall be hitting up the extended family for more as we don't buy much bread...I shall also be Neeming the garden again today as the turnips have been attacked by some grubs & powdery mildew...We did pick a few & give them to my Father for his dinner last night... I thought it may help to thin the rows out a bit to try & stop the spread of the mildew...

Worm Farm.....

Started work on the new "Kingdom" for the worms... A full run down of it's construction shall be given at a later date... I hurt my foot yesterday so didn't get as much done as I had planed, but such is....







Weekly Harvest...
Lettuce,  Beetroot leaves, Zucchini, Turnips, Baby Dragon/All Seasons Carrots, Mini Roma Tomato's, Strawberries, assorted Herbs, Beans, Eggplant, 3 eggs a day...






Have a Great one all...
: )»