March marches on and progress has been made!

Hi All no photos this time, as my new camera has a problems. Off to the seller. sigh I have broad beans up and some peas. I have cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts seedlings going well. The meter squares seems to be growing well. I have lots of little seedlings up. My silver beet has been incredible, and looks as if it has self seeded in many places. The peach tree I thought I had lost is full of leaf and I have added some manure and compost around the bases of all the fruit trees. The rain water tanks are full! YIPEE so exciting. The grass is green and the garden is looking incredible as many plants that were not doing so well have revived. I have planted a flowering gum against the dam wall, and cant not wait to see it in flower in a year or two. They were spectacular in the south of Tasmania this year! I have put in over 100 bulbs, and lots of seeds to have lovely flowers for spring and summer. The garden at the front of the house is looking really good. The plants I transplanted in summer, that were not doing so well in the heat are going great guns. I hope to be able to have some pictures soon. I have been clearing paths about the flower garden, and getting the beds in better condition. I have put horse poo, blood and bone(which helps keep the rabbits from eating the seedlings) and compost over the beds, and dug some in as I planted the new bulbs. In the process I have dug up so many fresias, that I have to put them in pots, as they seem to be spreading so crazily. I am rearranging my vegie garden and organising beds for spring, summer plantings. The two potato beds (hopefully will be free of potatoes just never seem to get rid of them all) will be for tomatoes, zucchinis, capsicum and pumpkins (growing as I did this year between the beds.) I am moving my strawberries plants and extending the berry bed. I have to move the goose berries and the currants, as I have not allowed enough room for them to grow. The raspberry beds will be extended and this will give the jostaberries an area all of their own. I am making a bed just for asparagus, and another area just for rhubarb. My rhubarb has been growing all summer. So we have had lots of it. The wild apple is full of fruit and I will pick some soon. They are still very green, but will be great for pies and freezing. As well as for crumble with rhubarb. All the gardens will have new good quality steel birdwire fencing(thanks Mr Rudd) and I have a dream to have good paths and cleared area on the outside of the fences to minimise weeds getting in. My dream would be to have edging, and I am thinking of using stone, and cement(with brown colour added) to do this. I have to work out where to put the garlic and next seasons potatoes. I am popping some in just to see if I get some early ones. Gosh life is great in the garden. I love the hardwork and the rewards. I love hand watering with a hose, as I can really keep an eye and give each plant its needs. I will be very happy when the March flies and mosquitos vanish. They have been such pests in the last couple of weeks, I got bitten by two march flies..arrgh!. We have been eating our own potatoes, silver beet, spinach, tomatoes, coriander, french tarragon, parsley, rosemary, oregnao, bay leaves, the odd carrot, beetroot, raddish and zucchinis. Salads with borage flowers and marigolds. We have also had native wild cherries which are yummy(at least I think they are). My basil was a failure, I never seem to have any luck. So it will be grown in pots next season. My beans have not done so well either. The lemon tree is looking good, I wait for lemons and limes. I dont get it? I have very little luck and yet my SDDgets lemons in the hundreds on her little tree. I am going to protect it more and will put up a barrier about it. I have some plastic I bought for another purpose so will try that to see if it helps. Oh and some hessian in case of frost. My passion fruit and grapes are growing but no fruit. My poor fig is miserable. I transplanted my french tarragon into a poly styrene pot as it was not happy in the garden where I had it, but it has lots of new shoots. I am also going to give horse raddish a try again. Mine all vanished?

Winter Garden beginings March 2009

Thanks Sara for the inspiration to get cracking on my winter vegie plots. I have put mushroom compost, horse manure and home compost onto this patch and will add some blood and bone today. I am going to go try the one magic square concept, a very interesting book by Lolo Houbein, and it is Australian which is even better! There will be several bed each a square metre. One will have the root crops, onions turnips, swedes, beetroot, onions, garlic, and she puts winter radish but I think I would prefer more garlic. The onions are in the centre. Another will hold the antioxidants, amaranth, Chinese broccoli, rocket, silver beet, spinach. I will also have a salad bed which will have endive, baby carrots, mizuna, diakon radish, coriander, shallots, Chinese swedes(if I can get some) corn salad, snow peas, tatsoy, onion, parsley, spinach, winter lettuce, rocket, a soup plot with onions, garlic, kale, leek, beetroot, carrots, sorrel and cabbage, A broad bean and pea area, a stirfry bed with broad beans, snow peas, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, bok choy, tatsoy, and pea shoots. another concept is the Horta plot. So looks like a lot of greens on the menu for us, along with the pumpkins I have already on the vines, root vegies, and my stored potatoes and garlic. It is my plan that eventually I will not need to buy any vegies. Great plans and only time will tell how it all comes about. Needing lots of encouragement on here and Simple Savers website.. simplesavers.com.au great site for support and savings tips. We are really beginning to get onto the chicken house, and during winter we will fence and build an area for them. My concept is to have the chicken area with acess to an area of the vegie gardens, that need to be cleaned manured and turned, so that the chooks will have plenty of free ranging, a nice home to roost and be safe from quolls and eagles and dogs. Some greens that they can eat regularly and we will get eggs and at times free range meat. Anyone who knows me knows I am not built for speed and my darling man likes to think things through where as me I would just go for it..woosh..lol