Catching up...

Have been a tad slack with the blog with all that's been going on so though it was about time to have a crack... 1st up, here is a post on our other blog with a few shots of our Wedding.... (click on "Wedding"..)
Now to the garden....

Gates...

The 2 side gates finally have been fixed.... Both are a temporary fix but should last for a few years... I think they were mentioned in a walk trough Clip last week...



Mushrooms...

The first flush of Swiss Brown Mushrooms have been harvested...We bought a kit from a local nursery, set it up about a month ago & forgot about it...  B☼ harvested just over ½ KG of fungus on Friday night... The top layer of peat has dried out a bit so it got a small watering & is being misted daily now but fear we may have neglected them for to long...



Out with the old...
A decision was made to remove old Goliath to help make room for the reception marquee so a new one was made out of bits of leftover play equipment... Not as big as the old one **Sigh** but will still hold 2 loads from our 7.5kg washer... It looks like we will be making a proper more permanent line in this style up the side of  the house...

Quick update clip...

When wicking beds go BAD !!!!
This is what was found in & under the plastic liner in Bed #5 when it was removed....

Harvests....
We have been getting heaps of fresh veg from the patch at the moment...
Left is what the Raspberries looked like before the wedding & the guests got to sample the fruit... Getting ready to cut it right back after the last 3 or fruit ripen... Right is the Swiss brown we picked on Friday....


Left is the huge Kohlrabi that has been used in 2 stews, last nights Chook & tonight Beef one... Right is a shot of Mangles in the patch... After reading a thread on Simple Savings we "thinned" some out last night & they tasted great in the stew... The leaves make a great Spinach substitute...

Have finally started to harvest some mature Carrots over the past week or so & must say, we are most Chuffed with the results... No bitter taste as some have told me their home grown ones have had... We will be making up some more Carrot seed tape tomorrow so another batch can go in...
The Beans, Snow & Sugar snap peas have all gone crazy... We are harvesting about 500g of each every 3 or so days... Think the Snow peas my be nearing their end but have plans for that bed so all is good...

Right... Tonight's Beef stew with Carrots, Beetroot, Kohlrabi, Beans, Snow & Sugar snap Peas from the patch.... Very Tasty!!!!!!


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

Wednesday walk through & future plans...

Walkthrough...
Just a quick one as not a lot has happened this week due to the holidays which meant Visitors & Visiting...

On a sad note...
I think we may be pulling out Bed #5...
On a happier note, Wit is going to be replaced with an Aquaponics set up...

**Does happy dance**

Have been reading up on a lot of information on fish farming & Aquaponics as well as watching the multitude of videos available on the net... It will be good to grow some of our own protein... Due to local regulations meat Chickens are out of the questions... We are hoping to include the worms in the system as food as well as active participants within the grow beds... We purchased 3 IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tanks to turn into Fish tanks & Grow beds... I wont be rushing the project due to upcoming nuptials but will be spending most of the honeymoon building the system... Maybe... If I'm allowed... 
I could Rabbit on about it for ages but shan't due to the fear of loosing my hairy noggin...

Have a great one all...
: )»

Update Walk through the patch 5th of April...

Update Video... 
Another walk through the yard...

Compost Tea...
Oops....Forgot include the Tea into the Video... I did up a smaller, more concentrate batch using the air stone & molasses... I didn't really notice a difference between the control plants & the watered ones this week but will give it 3 more weeks/batches of the tea & then report back...

Other bits...
 There are a few jobbies I need to finish off that were not done on the weekend like potting out the Pineapple & removing some shade cloth but should have them knocked off by the weekend...

Harvested to first of this batch of Zucchini yesterday along with a Cucumber & 2 smallish Eggplants... The Zucchini & Eggplant are going into a sauce in about 10 min... : )»
We had some soil & sand delivered to make up some more Wicking barrels & accidentally got too much sand so it looks like we might just have to build another bed in the next few weeks... Such a shame... Hope B☼ doesn't mind...                 **very cheeky GRIN**
We put the batch of manure we had into the barrels last weekend so got 8 more bags on Friday... B☼ hasn't seen them as of yet..  Have also thought up another stage in the compost screening process, shall be built later this week, that should make the job of breaking it down faster...
We are also putting the finishing touches on our first pond in the garden which should be stocked with some Pacific Blue Eye fish & some plants later today....
**Does BIG HAPPY DANCE**

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

: )»

Jobbies for the patch....

WOO HOO !!!!!

I have the day to myself tomorrow so I shall be doing all the little jobbies around the yard I have put on hold because of rain or other disruptions...
There are seeds to sow, plants to plant, Barrels to Wick, a pond to make & a little bit of landscaping to do...
I have an inkling that the onions seeds I have planted out on the 17 & 18th oh march may have failed as I have only seen 1 variety sprout.... It may just be me being impatient but am going to plant out some punnets of seed just in case... They wont go to waste as they will just be popped in throughout the patch & yard if the others have failed...

List of jobbies.... Shall come back & mark these once they are completed...
- Pot out Pineapple top
- Plant out Elephant & Glen Large Garlic  Saturday With B☼
- Plant out Dill with Cucumbers  Monday afternoon
-Sow Broccoli seed in with Cucumbers Monday afternoon
- Sow onion & Carrot tape in bathtub bed Saturday afternoon
- Transplant B☼'s Comfrey & some Aloe vera around the Lemon Tree
- Re pot Amish Paste Tomatoes the same way Ray does on his Praxxus You Tube channel Monday afternoon
- Pot up Chilli seedlings
- Watch countless more You Tube gardening clips Might wait till after jobbies are done...
- Wick up a garden bed for family member
- Investigate for root growth on the Eggplant, Sacred Basil & Tomato cuttings we took on the 17th of March & re pot if needed
-Cut down Barrels, wash then make 3 Wicking Barrels & 1 pond from them (Video on Wicking Barrels on this in post above...) Friday & Saturday afternoons
- Attach wire to the top of chook yard roof Saturday afternoon
- Plant out Panama Red Passion fruit in Wicking Barrel in chook Yard Saturday afternoon
- Make up more Compost Tea after current brew is used Saturday afternoon Monday afternoon
- Harvest top tray of Castings from old Worm farm
- Remove some of the shade cloth
- Pot up Lemongrass for friends Monday afternoon

That's all I can think of for now but shall add extra when I think of them as there is always more...

Pale-headed Rosella...

We got a visit from this lovely yesterday so thought I would  share... They normally visit in pairs but this one was flying solo so may not of found a mate as of yet...

Have a great one all...
: )»

Compost Teas & Seeds....

 Compost Tea...
Finely started up a batch of Compost tea on Friday using a small aquarium pump with an air stone, stockings, compost, worm castings, molasses & some cracker dust...

It was left overnight to brew after a few adjustments but hasn't turned out like other batches I have seen on You Tube so left it brew until early Sunday evening... I have been "massaging" the bags 2 or 3 times a day to help release the goodies further into the brew...

I did a few batches of soak & pour method of compost tea, where compost was mixed in a container & left for 24 hours then applied to plants, but really didn't notice a difference between the control plants & the ones that were fed with the tea after a week... I am still going to leave some as a control & see what they look like after a week... Have also thought about adding some seaweed solution to the brew but as it is an after though I may leave it to the next batch... Don't want to over do it too much...

Seedlings & other Plantings...
The seedlings in the trays have been a bit of a mixed bag as far as germination goes... The Udumalapet Eggplants we really wanted haven't germinated so have planted another batch of 16 seedlings in 2 trays... The Perennial Capsicum seed hasn't shot at all either so we might try some seed that Koo has been saving... The Purple Basil B☼ planted has germinated & we have Onions, Beans, Silverbeet & Kohl Rabi popping up everywhere....
** Does big HAPPY DANCE **
Seed Tape...
Moo & I have made up some seed tape with some Carrot, Onion & Lettuce seeds just to make the spacing of the seeds in the beds a lot easier...

Sunday Morning saw Koo & myself go to the Ipswich markets where we picked up another bulb of Elephant Garlic, Purple skinned Sweet Potato & a Pineapple... The Garlic will be planted this week with the other purple Seed Garlic we bought... Not to certain where the Sweet Potato is going yet but shall find somewhere & the Pineapple will go into another pot for now...





Sunday Walk...

 We went for a walk at a local "recreation Reserve" where we came across debris left over from the January floods that took so many lives & destroyed many others homes & livelihoods... The photos show some of the larger pieces we found... There was an astounding amount of plastic bottles, bits of foam, plant pots, water & fuel drums...We did come across a large blue drum cut in half length ways so collected that to use as a planter as well as some rubbish just to help clean up the place a bit... Will be a long time before places like this recover...

 Shall post a walk through update Video tomorrow... Ran out of light tonight...

Have a great one all....

: )»