Getting ready for Summer

We're only 30 days into the Australian Spring and I'm pretty confident that this is the most prepared I've every been for a summer harvest!  The chooks have settled into their chicken pen, and one has started to lay eggs already.  I suspect it is one of the Leghorns or Isa Browns, but haven't yet caught them in the act.

Chooks lined up ready for the kids to feed them weeds.

Our chook egg on left, shop bought on right.

The kid's patch is coming along nicely.  A few radishes have been picked already, with a bonus that the kids actually like them!  The cherry tomato has had a few flowers blossom, but I doubt that they'll really turn into anything at this early stage.  While the beetroot and strawberries are progressing, the sunflowers have basically just been snail food, and they never get to actually shoot very far before the snails get to them.

Half of the main bed has been set aside for tomato and related plants in a semi-rotational system.  In the photo below are blueberry, blackberry and black currant plants in pots, with tomatoes immediately behind (on the right of photo), and eggplant and chilli behind on left.  The bare dirt between the eggplant and brickwork will be for some Roma tomatoes.  The tomatoes on the right are various heirloom varieties -I figure that we'll end up with cherry tomatoes (from kids and one of my heirlooms), salad tomatoes, saucing/sundried tomatoes (from the Romas) and some green tomatoes (green zebras).  My sister's favourite movie for a while was Fried Green Tomatoes, so I've always wanted to grow green tomatoes just so I can make her one!

The three plants at the back of the garden bed are three of my propogated grape vines.  While I'm not sure which variety they are, a friend works for a liquor wholesaler and he's pretty confident that he'll be able to pick the variety.  Around three quarters of the propogated vines have established themselves, and I've been able to transplant 6 in total to our new house here (another three in pots elsewhere in the garden).  This will be their second season, so hopefully with the warmer weather we will get some fruit this time around!

Time to add a room!

One of the problems with renting a house is that you're firstly stuck with the layout as it comes, and secondly there is not much you can really do about it.

Take this house we've just started renting.  Because of it's age (1930's - 1950's at a guess) it has good features such as high ceilings, a lot of land, great storage in the kitchen and a good number of rooms (especially with the extension of a new master bedroom, second bathroom and another living area.

On the downside, the laundry wasn't built for washing machines the size of the modern era machine.  Not that ours is particularly large, but the placement of the laundry trough doesn't allow us to actually use the laundry as a laundry! So our laundry is outside on the back veranda, but this then leaves it exposed to full sun for most of the day.  And we're not even in summer yet.

The hoses etc are connected OK through the window, which unfortunately is always (locked) open.  Over the fence at the end are the rubbish (trash) bins, with a couple of ropes tied to the bins and the fence so that you can open the lids from over the fence.

We've then tied a tarpaulin to the beams in the roof, which stretches the tarpaulin across most of the back.  There's still a gap on the right to make it easier when you're walking out of the house into the backyard.

The end result is a new laundry (of sorts).  Cost all of about $10, and won't be an issue when the landlord makes their next inspection!

On the move...

With a recent promotion at work, we're no longer based in Gippsland!  I'll keep the name of the blog, since we're expecting to move back eventually, and while in the sunny Wimmera (Western Victoria) I'll keep gardening, preserving and budgeting!

Our new home is a rental but with quite a large backyard.  Most of it is grassed, then there's the old pool area that is now a sandpit and paved area so the kids have got a lot of space to keep them occupied. There are also two largish areas that will make nice vegetable gardens.  Eventually.

The first area is by the clothesline, and with a path down the middle, already divided into three larger beds. This first bed, the largest, will be for carrots, leeks and parsnip on the left, grapevines along the back, and then tomatoes, capsicums and chili toward the right.

The second bed in this section will be for the kids - sunflowers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, beetroot and strawberries. An eclectic mix of foods and flowers they enjoy and smaller produce they'll at least have fun picking!  The third bed is a work in progress and will likely be the herb bed.  Still close to the house so we'll be able to pick fresh herbs to add to our cooking.

The other main area is an unused section at the back of the block.  Under true permaculture guidelines this normally wouldn't be for vegetables, since it isn't near the house.  It is however relatively clear from weeds and in full sun.  As a result I've started planting out potatoes, and will use this for corn and other plants as well that can mostly be left for long growing periods.  The walk to the back isn't a huge burden anyway and I can certainly do with the extra steps!

We are also very fortunate that there was already a chicken run in place, plus a very accommodating landlord that was happy for us to keep chickens.  We've bought 6 in total - 2 Isa Browns, 2 Leghorns and 2 Australorps (only one pictured).  The kids love them, the chooks love the weeds the kids feed them and we should start getting eggs within a few weeks.

Happy days ahead in the Wimmera!

New Brassica Garden Bed

Through the middle of summer I was trying to add a new garden bed.  The overall design of the garden is turning out fairly organically - where there is a little space available, I will try to grow veges in them.  By growing things in that space I also gradually clawback the grass that surrounds that space and in turn grow the size of the garden overall.

One garden bed I was wanting to create was some space for some brassica - specifically Brussels Sprouts.  It is again surrounded by strawberries until I get the space for a specific strawberry patch.  The inside space had some spent compost as a base which I then covered with lawn clippings and a layer of manure.

Then I continued to layer grass clippings and straw with manure and topped it off with a layer of straw.

Finally I added some bagged compost over the straw to plant out some Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts and mixed lettuce.  The seedlings then start to establish themselves in the compost as the straw and manure breaks down.

The level of the garden then allows for the strawberries to send runners into the garden bed and establish themselves.  After these get established, I'll transfer to the proper strawberry bed - at least once I've built one!

The Berry Field

Ok, so it mightn't be a field as such, but since we're heading into Spring I thought that it would be a good time to tidy up our raspberry patch.

I bought our first raspberry (Heritage) around 2 years ago, and keep getting good harvests from it. It started to run in the first year and I was fortunate to be able to propagate a second plant from one of the runners. The patch that we had these plants in though was starting to get a little overgrown.

To tidy it up a little, I thought it would be good in a raised garden bed. Our soil is a heavy clay and raspberries really prefer a deep rich soil. The raised bed allows for a no-dig or lasagna type garden, and by using the besser blocks I can grow strawberries around the outside. Now we shouldn't have any issues with berries this summer!

To start the no-dig garden, you place a layer of newspaper down. This will stop most weeds growing into the bed. While I'm intending to remove the turf because it is Kikuyu it is near impossible to completely remove. The newspaper makes one extra barrier to at least help control it a little. I've placed the besser blocks on the newspaper simply to stop the grass growing into where the strawberries will be planted.

Next up is a layer of mulch to help with drainage and a little aeration. I'd trimmed back some hedges this afternoon so they were conscripted in for this. I also added a layer of fresh chicken manure and charcoal. The charcoal had been soaked in some worm castings and should help with the delivery of nutrients to the garden.

At this point you then start alternating straw and manure in layers of around 10cms/4in. Because of the size of my bed, I probably went a bit smaller but I've not had any issues in previous years with this.

I topped it off with a layer of mushroom compost to plant the raspberries into (rich soil, but not too rich like the raw manure would be), and a layer of pea straw as a mulch to keep it all moist. The strawberries around the outside were simply planted in potting mix.
Last year we did reasonably well with our raspberries, although lost a few (and almost all our strawberries) to birds. With the rich soil and a bit of netting for protection, we should have a bumper harvest this summer!

Oh yes, oh yes, It's Springtime!

So Spring has sprung in a big way over the last few weeks! Winter has officially left, and the plants and chickens have taken their cue and started to get more productive.

Firstly, our Rhode Island Red chickens are almost a year old and up until two weeks ago they hadn't laid a single egg between them. With the warming of the weather, between the two RIRs and two Australorps we are getting up to three eggs a day. It's an awesome feeling to be getting more eggs than we can eat at the moment!

Secondly, the plants are definitely reacting to the warm weather too. The deciduous ornamental trees (such as our Liquid Amber) are starting to shoot again, along with the stone fruit trees. I think there are about 3 flowers on the Cherry trees, not quite a bumper harvest, but it's good to see they're establishing themselves.

Today I'd planned to do a fair bit of work, but the weather's conspired against me and we're in for rain most of the weekend. In between the showers, I've been pottering a little. My main aim this weekend was to build a small retaining wall for one of my raised garden beds. Lately they've been getting "attacked" by some of the local wild birds chasing bugs and worms. I find though that the birds prefer to dig at the base of the garden beds rather than from the top. Hopefully just a single layer of 20cm/8in besser blocks will help stop them digging as much.


This is the first garden bed I'm working on. The garden slopes a little, so I will backfill with dirt on the right side of the photo, but from the house you'll be able to see the blocks (rather than just the garden bed). To make it a little more interesting though, the blocks also provide a great planting space for other small plants, so this one will have a border of strawberries. The strawberries will also benefit from a sort of micro-climate in that the blocks will warm up in the sunshine, as well as having them elevated off the ground. We lost quite a few last year to rotting on the ground.

After filling the holes with potting mix, I then transplanted and divided a number of plants from elsewhere in the garden. When we moved in last year, I really just put plants where ever we had room at the time, now that we're getting more established, I'm finding more permanent places for them.

The remaining plants in the garden bed are a row of Savoy Cabbages, Garlic and Cauliflowers. There were more cabbages and cauli's, but the birds destroyed a few searching for worms. The garlic was simply some left over shop-bought garlic from the fridge - it's really just an experiment to see how it goes.

There's still a bit of work left to do, but I'm anticipating it will be a great summer harvest!

Garden Update

OK, so I know it's been a while. Between work and the garden, it's been a little busy, so I've not been able to post for while!

Our chickens have matured, but with maturity came the realisation that one wasn't so much a chicken, but rather a rooster! Given the issues with our city about keeping chickens in the first place, having a rooster was a no-go. Thankfully we found another couple who's existing rooster was getting on a bit, so they've taken him to a big farming property they run. Here's a shot of the two Rhode Island Red girls that we reared:
My wife also had a friend who's in the middle of rearranging their garden and henhouse, so needed to get rid of two chickens. We've adopted these, and while I'm not 100% sure, I'm thinking that they're Australorps. The new chooks are a fair bit older so I don't know if we'll end up with huge numbers of eggs, but at the moment we're getting our fair share of manure!
I'm also using the slower growth now we are in winter to be able to establish some garden beds to have ready for summer. This new bed I'm using no dig principles with, starting with mulch on the bottom, green plants (old pumpkin vines and green grass clippings) then autumn leaves off our deciduous trees. Between each layer is a layer of manure. The bed's almost complete (another layer of manure and old grass clippings) and then it will sit for a few months waiting for summer.

I'm not growing too much at the moment, but have got a few broccoli and pea plants. These peas are growing on an old no dig bed that I used to grow potatoes in last summer, and seem to be doing very well despite the cold setting in early this year. The peas will also provide nitrogen to the soil, which is essentially now a compost having decomposed while the potatoes grew.


So, while the plant growth drops off in winter, the work continues! The next big projects until the spring planting season starts is really around preparing the soft fruits - clearing some space for our strawberries and dividing our raspberries to make sure that we've got way too many this summer!