September 2014 (2)

The heavy duty shadecloth on the legume Ecobed in this picture, was quickly wrapped around the pest exclusion frame last night to stop the broad beans blowing over when damagingly high winds came through the suburb.  The wind was quite violent with trees being blown down and houses losing their roofs all around Melbourne.  The shadecloth stayed in place thanks to the easy to use fastening system and there was minimal damage to my broad beans.
 
I have been refurbishing some of my Ecobins ready to plant Tomatoes.  I pulled them apart returning the used soil to one of my ornamental beds, and thoroughly cleaned everything else including the scoria.

I painted and reassembled the bins upgrading the overflow arangements as previously described.  New soil was taken from a drip irrigated garden bed and enriched with plenty of aged sheep manure.  A 60mm layer of home made compost was applied as a top dressing complete with worms harvested from my Ecobed worm farms.

I am experimenting this year with alternative water tank covers.  Instead of the heavy duty shadecloth used in previous years, I am using a layer of sugar cane straw in 2 of the bins, and coconut fibre matting in the others.  Hopefully they will be more effective at stopping soil getting into the water tanks without reducing water wicking capabilities.

Each Ecobin has an 1800mm star picket to support the Tomatoes as they grow.  Its held in place by the Scoria and soil, but for added security, I have tied them to the top rims of the bins with galvanised wire.

In about 4 weeks, the Tomatoes should be ready for planting, and the soil microbes will be fully active ready to start feeding them.

September 2014 (1)

Its the first day of spring and after a week of beautiful mild, sunny, wind free days, its pouring down and its cold and blowing a gale.  Still, the garden's loving it.

As you can see I fitted exclusion netting last week.  We are already getting visits from those pesky Cabbage White Butterfies and Whiteflies.  I sprayed the Brassicas with Bacillus thuringiensis before fitting the nets to kill off a few caterpillars that had hatched and were starting to make a meal of my cauliflowers.

The light feeder bed is getting into a higher gear and I am harvesting lettuce and silverbeet at the moment.   I have planted my onions and a couple of replacement lettuce and the bed is full again.

The legume bed is generally OK, but I am disappointed with my dwarf peas.  Only a few flowers have set pods.  This is the second year this particular variety has failed, despite a great crop of climbing peas last year grown in the next row.  The broad beans are growing very well, are in full flower and are setting plenty of pods, so I think the dwarf peas might be getting too much nitrogen from my soil and putting on too much leaf growth.  We'll see how this years crop of climbing peas go.

All the vegies got a spray of aerated compost tea a couple of weeks ago, and so far there is no sign of mildew or rust on my legumes.

The wide row in the middle of the bed covered with mulch is being prepared for cucumbers and a butternut pumpkin.  I will be sowing seeds later this week, so I will need to build a third relocatable climbing frame for them soon.

This is the heavy feeder bed and I am harvesting broccoli, turnip and cauliflower at the moment, and the cabbages are not far away.  I have sown cabbage, turnip and broccoli seeds to be ready for transplanting into the vacated spaces once the soil is fed and matured in a couple of weeks time.

August 2014 (2)

Nothing very exciting happens in the garden at this time of the year, but here is my mid-August update.  Everything is growing well, and I have started to build my second citrus tree Ecobed (Hamlin Orange). Broad beans are healthy, in flower and disease free, and I am harvesting Broccoli, Silverbeet, Turnips and Cauliflower. 

Its time to apply another foliar spray of aerated compost tea, and I will put the brew on tomorrow.

August 2014 (1)

Its mid August and still winter here in Melbourne, and I have just planted my potatoes.  I'm hoping we don't get a late frost after the new shoots break through the soil.  With luck we will get away with it and get an early harvest of "new" potatoes in November.