Today I took a look down the beanstalk tower and noted the presence of sprouts. The beans are looking good, which is a little unexpected as I was dubious about the possibility of their success in tubs. I am now salivating at the prospects of some pucker tucker from the garden more and more every day.
Over the past few days I have been suffering with a rather severe back ache. It is severely limiting my garden activity, as well as impacting the Christmas preparations. We are done in terms of gift shopping, but there is house and yard cleaning to be done. That activity is also impinging my garden time. That said I had to break my self enforced curfew today and visit the big kids toy shop Bunnings today for some supplies.
The primary reason is that the four bean seedlings that did not get trellis space at planting really need something to climb. So I managed to get two more pieces of downpipe trellis. I will be once again cable tieing these back to back and training the sprouts up the trellis. It will give the seedlings a good start. I do though have a concern that it will not be tall enough. I do though believe it would be possible to join more in a vertical position. This will require an anchor stake, something that may not be possible in a pot.
Also, we spotted some horrible little caterpillars attacking my newly fruiting beefsteak tomatoes. As such we knew that we needed to take some action immediately. Due to the nature of the holiday season, especially when hosting the family dinner, we have elected to take the easy way out. As such we purchased some chemical pyrethrum based spray to kill the pests dead. This also necessitated a garden pressure sprayer. All well and good and the tomatoes have now had the treatment. I though will be trying the suggestions from Rid Pest Control Services in the future.
We also picked up another three storage tubs to be converted into planter tubs. One, or two of these will hold the carrots, corn, and other vegetables that will be grown from seed. The others will be hosting some Australian wildflowers, gerberas, poppies, and sunflowers. These are aimed purely at attracting bees to the yard to ensure the vegetable are getting sufficient polenation. Also, they will add a splash of colour and vibrancy.
We also procured two more bags of the fantastic Rich Gro Pro Mix potting mix. This will be used for the above projects.
I will be taking a look in the worm farm soon after Christmas, as they have been busy with another litre of worm juice harvested last week. I am thus optimistic that there will also be some worm castings available to further enrich the potting mix. So I still have 5 litres available even after using it this week. Needless to say the worm juice will not go to waste and will certainly be put to good use.
Also, tonight we had a BBQ. Rump steak and sausages was the meat on offer, and it tasted great when washed down with Grolsch beer. I also managed to try the ebony fire chilli I harvested last week. Socko sliced the chillis up and licked her fingers. Socko is not a keen spice-a-holic and we could hear the effects upon her from 10 feet away after verifying that she was indeed fine I was prepared for the fire that was to come. I tried the chilli and it is definately up there in the heat steaks. The seeds had been removed for drying, and reuse next year. So I can only imagine the heat had the fire crackers been left in the chilli. I was also to try the mystery chilli, but after the ebony fire I thought better of it.
The salad that accompanied the barbecue was also nice. It contained some of the Ku Chai (garlic chives), the first time we have used it. It worked well within the simple garden salad. We also used more of the parsley, not that it looks like we have used any of the stuff, it is simply growing prolifically. No doubt it will get a hammering in the coming days across Christmas. The mint, that has gone nuts in a largish pot, will certainly be getting a hammering as Socko is going to prepare a Jamie Oliver Ezy Peezy Ginger Beer recipe. It will be good to taste, and good for the plant.
The worms are also living it up with a lot of egg shells being introduced to the general fare of salad greens and tea bags. The egg shells are coming courtesy of my mum that has moved into overdrive with preparing Christmas food. We must surely have a life times supply of short bread, rum balls and fruit mince pies in the fridge. Not to mention the White Christmas that I prepared last week. If anyone goes home hungry from our place on Christmas day then there will be something seriously amiss with them.
Water conservation is high on the environmental to do lists for myself. It is also generally true of all Australians as most Australian states and territories are currently enforcing tight water restrictions due to the effects of a long drought. With my adopted growing technique of pots and tubs I am growing what is quite a thirsty garden. I am though attempting to preserve as much water as possible.
Rain Water Capture
Ideally I would install a large rain water tank or a bank of tanks. However, with the impending move I am not keen to spend on a solution that will not be portable to the new house. So I am currently capturing rainwater on a much smaller scale in a number of strategically placed tubs, polystyrene containers, and buckets. Also, whenever rain is happening I move all the plant tubs and hanging baskets into an area where they will receive a generous drop from the skies. In fact some of my plants have been receiving a drop that is too generous and have been moved around to dry out a bit.
With the recent flukey Sydney weather this has meant that I have not had to use mains supply water for over a month which is good for the garden as rainwater is free of the introduced chemicals for the public water system. It is equally good for my hip pocket as it is free. If only the rain was making inland to the agriculturalists further inland.
Having said that I am not considering the rain water tank idea in the current house, it is very high on the to do list when we do decide on the new premises. I plan on garnishing as much rain water as possible for watering the garden, and potentially for drinking water. Also, high on the agenda will be the recycling of grey water from the laundry and kitchen sink. Again to be used on the garden.
Potting Mix Selection
As any regular reader would know I am very keen on the Rich Gro Pro Mix potting mix. There are four reasons for this.
For the purposes of this article the Ezi Wet component is where it is all at. Basically when the Ezi Wet agent come into contact with water it traps it for later use when the soil drys out. This means the soil always has some moisture in it which is great. This in turn means that if I skip a day that the plants will not go thirsty.
Although you can purchase soil wetting agent separately I believe that it if it is already contained in the potting mix then it is more evenly dispersed, and as such better for the garden. Also, it saves another step in soil preparation.
Mulch
This is the weak point for myself at the moment. I agree though that is essential as not only does it help prevent moisture loss through evaporation it also assists to suppress weeds and as it breaks down also provides nutrients back to the soil, and thus the plants. Mulch is simply a layer of material covering the soil around the base of a plant. Mulch can be organic, or inorganic. Generally though mulch is organic and is often seen in the form of woodchips, bark or straw.
I am awaiting the arrival of my Ryobi Garden Shredder that will make me some top notch woodchip and bark mulch. I have a stack of source material ready to be shredded and the mulch should be fantastic for My Blooming Lot. Between it and the worm juice I should be set for some top notch crops in the new year.
However I have already begun mulching as a layer of leaves can also be considered mulch. Over the last day or so my White Bird of Paradise is now mulched by some of its own damaged fronds and also some damaged fronds from the Standard Bird of Paradise. This mix of leaves and stems has managed to encircle the White Bird of Paradise completely and provide a good mulch layer. Although not to the 7cm depth that is recommended by the Gardening Australia fact sheet on Soil Preparation & Mulch it is a start. Similarly, as I prune to Beefsteak Tomato that threatens to turn into a small tree I am dropping the fresh cuttings into the pot. I am also collecting leaves as they appear from the many eucalypt trees in the area as mulch for the tubs and pots.
I can not wait though for the larger scale mulching as it will also further improve my yard.
I am constantly on the look out for other water conservation techniques for the garden, so if you have some please leave a comment.
Addendum
Humans Let Us All Waste Water is a related article that is very informative and definately worth a read. It pertains to the effects of the washing machine, in particular why a front loader is superior to a top loader.
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