Hot, Hot, Hot

It started on Friday with 36C yesterday was 38C, New Years Eve and Day are set to hit 40C followed by some relief down to 37/8C but back to 40C by next weekend.
Early morning starts are called for in the garden and with light at 6am and 21C that's the time to be out there. By 9am it's getting hot and 10am it's way too hot at 36C to be outside.

This morning I emptied the chook pergola of another load of chook mulch and spread that around the garden to help the plants survive another sweltering day.

This meant refilling the pergola area with a bag of shredded paper and a bale of straw, the chooks happily scratch their way through this to get to the damp earth below where all the bugs and worms live.

I needed to top up the fish pond, again, with tank water and have put up shadecloth on the western side to cut down the sun's evaporative force. At least the fish are happy!

The newly planted carrots have been covered with an old curtain and it's helping to keep the soil moist while they germinate. I found another piece of curtain to cover the lemon tree that is coping well in the heat but I don't want it to stress too much.

The Silverbeet and Cucumbers love their 70% shadecloth cover on Bed 3 and are thriving on only two waterings per week...although they might need more with the heat this week!
I've added yet more shadecloth to bed10 where newly planted Beetroot seedlings needed extra shade.

It's weeks like these, although early this year, that are a trend of our summers after the solstice. This is why we have so many shadecloth structures. From the first over the Tank Beds in the Dog Pen area to the new gourd wicking-worm bed this year!

Despite this additional pieces of shade cloth still get put up on these hot days. In the Dog Pen Garden beds where the Sweetcorn was battling the western afternoon heat and as an emergency cover for a tray or two of cuttings.

Garden Log: 30 Dec 07

Last garden log update for 2007!!

As we head into another heatwave this week we've had no rain. Christmas weather was pleasant and it has gradually warmed up during the week.

Main planting this week was on Bed 4 Tip Top Carrots. This is a late planting this year and probably ill timed with this heatwave coming but they are in non the less. They have been covered with an old curtain to keep the sun off.
In the half of Bed 10, where the tomatoes were removed, I've planted some purchased Beetroot Globe seedlings and some 5 Coloured Silverbeet seedlings I had growing in the shade house.

I potted up some Thyme and Greek Basil seedlings I purchased and some Greek Oregano pieces I dug up while I tidied the side of the pergola garden bed.

On Wednesday I made up a mixture of compost, coir-peat and loam to top up the wicking-worm beds...they seem to need more depth of soil as the temperatures increase but are still producing well.

I also re-built the worm farm removing all the bedding, castings and some worms and added these to the wicking bed top-up too. The worm farm has been re-made with fresh bedding (coir-peat), molasses soaked shredded paper and saved worms.

So far I haven't need to spray the tomatoes with anything stronger than water-seaweed solution in a hand mister concentrating mainly on the backs of the leaves. The new growth so far looks OK.

On Friday I made up a batch of plum sauce from a bucketful of Santa Rosa plums. Go Here for the recipe. The wattlebirds have discovered these plums and although not quite ripe they are eating them!! They must be hungry this year!
Since Wednesday I've mainly spent my time hand watering and topping up ponds in anticipation of the coming heat.

Garden Log: 23 Dec 07

On Friday the lightning started at 3am...by sunrise it was raining...not as heavy as some other areas in the state but a very welcome 14mm.
Friday night a cool change came in and it continued to be drizzly and windy on Saturday, almost wintry.
On Saturday (22 Dec 07) our Summer Solstice occurred so we have passed our longest day and the daylight hours will now become shorter. The next couple of months are our hottest.

Planting:
Monday was green leafy crop planting so the following from Phoenix seeds were planted:
Brussels Sprouts - Seven Hills
Kale - Morton's Mix
Senposai - a Japanese hybrid of cabbage and mustard spinach
Cabbage - January King
Cabbage - Red Drumhead
Corn Salad - Valerianella locusta
Shiso - Perilla frutescens - Red and Green the seeds of which were put into the fridge for a few days before planting.


On the fruit planting days I planted these seeds for trees to add to the chicken forage areas.
American Elderberry - Sambucus canadenis
Siberian Pea Tree - Caragana arborescens
The seeds of both these plants needed to be pre-soaked overnight in lukewarm water to break their dormant tendencies.


Also planted, from Diggers, some:
Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumbers
Yellow Tommy Toe Tomatoes

I've also sown some Alyssum seeds:
White annual - Carpet of Snow
Yellow perennial - Evergolden
These went into cell trays as I need to plant more flowers to encourage insects as they seem reluctant to fly into the 'darkness' under the shade structures.

I've found a supplier of white 50% shade cloth and this will very soon be sewn up to replace the 70% cloth on most of the beds. The 70% cloth will be re-used in the new Shade House we are building these holidays.

On Friday I removed half the tomato plants in Bed 10 as they had Tomato Russet Mite.

Sticky Yellow Traps

Yellow Sticky Traps

Used to attract and capture pests including white fly and mites are available commercially but you can make them at home.
Using a yellow plastic ice cream container lids:

• Cut lengths roughly 20 x 10 cms or left complete
• Punch a hole in one end for attaching wire or string to.
• Smear a fairly thick layer of petroleum jelly mixed in equal quantities with household detergent or horticultural soap.
• Tie near affected plants, with the sticky side facing away from the sun.

These won't last as long as the commercial ones but are easily washed and the petroleum jelly layer re-applied.
They can also be made out of ply-wood or even glass and painted bright yellow.

We Have A Problem!

Tomato Russet Mite

I have discovered a major problem with my Tomatoes this year. I now realise that this is also the reason for the main crop failure last year. Although I did notice this problem earlier I didn't realise what it was and how bad it had affected the plants until this week.

Know Your Enemy: Tomato Russet Mite:

• they are sap suckers
• they live on the underside of the leaves
• they are microscopic, so you can't see them
• they thrive in dry conditions
• lower leaves brown off first and die
• fruit will be effected if not treated
• plants will die

Things To Try - Early

• keep plants actively/healthily growing
• apply seaweed extracts for plant health
• remove affected leaves early
• remove badly affected plants and destroy them
• mist plants during dry weather
• companion planting with garlic/onion tribe
• encourage predator insects - ladybugs, lacewings
• use yellow sticky traps to catch the mites

If This Doesn't Help

• If you wish consider sprays - soft options first by the time this pest is evident the plants will be fruiting and any pesticides will have withholding periods that will inhibit using the fruit. Carefully read the labels on commercial products and use according to the instructions.
• Keep in mind that any sprays including misted water and seaweed extracts must cover the backs of the leaves where these creatures live.
• milk spray equal milk and water
• garlic spray
• soap or oil sprays in cool weather only

If This Still Doesn't Help...
Consider Pyrethrum but remember to use this very carefully as it will harm the beneficial insects, earthworms and soil microbes that you try so hard to encourage into your garden.

What I'm Doing
I have already made a second planting in a different area of the garden.
I'm doing the 'early things to try' including:

• Misting with a hand pump-spray (as we can't use a hose anyway) with a very dilute seaweed extract daily unless it's raining.
• I've planted a clump of Society Garlic near each plant - garlic doesn't grow in summer here, the onions have finished and I had 2 big pots full of society garlic that had been rescued from another bed earlier.
• Keeping a careful watch on the new plants.
  
• I have removed the worst affected plants from bed 10 (all the Pacesetters and some Black Russians) the remaining ones I have trimmed all affected leaves from and am starting these early intervention ideas. The Society Garlic is in pots here.
  
• I have some Pyrethrum and 'Beat-a-Bug' (a commercial pre-mix of pyrethrum, garlic and chilli) on hand to try if needed.

Sources
The Australian Organic Gardener's Handbook by Keith Smith
The Organic Garden Problem Solver by Jackie French
Carrots Love Tomatoes

Parcel

Parcel

AKA Leaf Celery
Apium graveolens var. Secalinum

I like to think of this plant as tasting like celery but growing like parsley!
It's actually a form of wild celery with a parsley like growth habit. Today's celery was developed from these wild forms.
Gives the flavour of celery to salads and cooking at the same time as garnishing.

It's said to have similar health properties to celery; diuretic and anti-inflammatory.
It is sold through the Herb Herbert range as a plant (Parcel). Download a fact sheet on it here.

I have found that seeds kept from these plants grow well if picked when fully ripe and stored carefully.

It enjoys moist rich soil but I have found it does well in a large pot or tub much the same as parsley and survives on much less water than celery does.

Garden Log 16 Dec 07

This week the weather has been 'mild' with only one day above 30C. We had a minimum of 5.8C on Monday but by Friday the min was 20C and max 34C but that's just summer here!
It even rained on Saturday morning but only very lightly.

Many of last week's seeds have germinated
and are growing incredibly fast.

I've planted seeds for continuation plantings of Black Zucchini, Yellow Egg Tomato, Lemon Cucumbers and Delicata Squash. Some of these have already germinated too.

On Monday, into the garden Bed by the back gate, I planted a well grown San Marzano Tomato and a self fertile, smooth skinned Kiwi Fruit, Issai (Actinidia arguta 'Issai') on the trellis.

Into Bed 4 went more Lebanese Mini Cucumbers and some San Marzano Tomatoes from their second sowing.

My latest seed order from Phoenix seeds arrived during the week so on Saturday I planted a few:

• Broccoli - Green Goliath
• Cauliflower - Mini (free seed from Diggers)
• Motherwort - Leonuris cardiaca

The brassicas were planted as a trial early planting this year, others will go in this week. It's 2 weeks earlier than I started planting autumn greens last year and I will also be planting more in a months time which will be 2 weeks later than last year.

This year seems quite 'advanced' as far as growth goes with early fruiting tomatoes, zucchini and greens and herbs running to seed quickly.
Even the fruit ripening on the trees has been 2-3 weeks earlier.
I'm not sure what this means but will 'cover my bases' and plant early and late crops for autumn and winter next year.

Inside I've been preserving more Apricots from the second tree; another bag of dried and 10 'bottles' are in the pantry, along with some stewed for the freezer. These join those harvested from the first tree which are already away in the pantry/freezer and not forgetting Doc's Apricot Wine that's gurgling quietly away in the lounge room.

Around the garden:

Bed 3 Lemon Cucumbers and Silverbeet

Doc's Gourds are thriving in their wicking water bed.

And so far the Basil and Greens boxes
haven't needed extra watering
although they have had a couple of light showers of rain.

( BTW the empty box here is for Ninja

so she doesn't need to sleep on the greens!)

Minute Moments Pottering

Nothing is particularly hard

if you divide it into small jobs.

- Henry Ford

Strawberry Bed Tidy

Last weekend the cool change made working out in the garden quite pleasant. I had about 30 minutes spare.
Something I'd been putting off was tidying the Strawberry Bed. The recent heat had knocked them around and the Feverfew seemed to be taking over a bit.
So off with the bird netting and I started trimming.
As the Feverfew is grown for it's insecticidal properties I mulched (by chopping them roughly) the trimmings around the strawberries.The strawberries themselves had dry leaves and fruit remains so these got a good chop too with this debris being removed from the bed.

This will encourage new, healthy growth.Later in the cool of the evening I gave them a liquid feed of Seaweed extract and Fish emulsion to boost them along.
A quick top up of mulch and they will be ready for new growth and hopefully another crop of yummy strawberries.

I'll leave the netting off for a while to allow the chooks and birds to scratch around on the ground and get some bugs.
Also I'll be able to spot any lurking snails that have been hanging around with this showery weather.

Garden Log: 9 Dec 07

A spectacular thunderstorm on Thursday night left me with 5mm in the rain gauge and cooler weather for the weekend.

This morning Doc and I removed the netting from the Stella Cherry Tree and picked a small but very yummy crop of cherries. No preserving them in Rum this year just some sweet fruit for breakfasts and dessert for a few days.

This weekend I've planted seeds of herbs to go into a new Herb Bed I'm planning for Medicinal and Tea Herbs . Actually it will be a re-vamp of the Pergola Garden area.

Into Punnets:
Borage - Borago officinalis from Select Organic seeds
Caraway - Curum carvi from a herb packet from the shop.
Tooth Ache Plant - Spilanthes acmella from Isabell Shipard
Small Flowered Willow Herb - Epilobium parviflorum from Eden seeds
Dill - Anethum graveolens from Select Organic seed
Florence Fennel - Foeniculum dulce from Greenpatch Organic

Into Cell Trays:
For planting as living mulch and also in the Herbal Tea Bed.
Lucerne 'Sequel' - Medicago sativa from Green Harvest
Red Clover - Trifolium pratense from Green Harvest

Also into Loo Roll Holders to allow planting at a stage when they will be able to withstand bug attack, but not too big. These are for the chooks.
Sunflowers Giant Russians from Edens and G in Victoria.
Sorghum White African - Sorghum bicolor from a seed saver via SSN

I've pulled up most of the White and Red Onions on Bed 4 and have left them to dry for a few days before storing away.

French Sorrel

French Sorrel

Rumex scutatus

Family Polygonaceae
Grows 20-50cm tall.
Propagated by seed or cutting...I don't allow my plants to flower and set seed as it could create a weed problem. The chooks love the flower stalks.

Uses:
A Tea made from the leaves can be soothing if applied to sunburnt skin also makes and antiseptic mouthwash to aid mouth ulcers.
An infusion of leaves in vinegar can sooth itchy skin.
Sorrel produces blue and green dyes and the boiled root a red colouring.
Leaves and stems have been used to replace rennet to curdle milk in cheese making.

For edible use the leaves should be picked young and tender.
If grown in the shade leaves are larger and more tasty.
In my garden it doesn't die back through winter but only grows slowly.
Contains oxalic acid so care taken for those sensitive to oxalates. Par boiling or blanching the leaves can reduce the oxalic acid content.
There are recipes aplenty for Sorrel Soup using cream or milk to address the bitter taste but this recipe from Isabell Shipard's book How Can I Use Herbs in My Daily Life? looks tempting:

Sorrel and Tomato Soup
4 large handfuls of finely shredded sorrel leaves
1 cup diced tomatoes
600ml chicken stock (home made)
2 tablespoons butter
Cook sorrel in the melted butter for 1 minute
Add tomatoes and cook 5 mins
Add chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste and simmer 5 mins.

Source:
How Can I Use Herbs in My Daily Life? by Isabell Shipard

Hot House Conversion.

Problem:
Summer is here and the temperatures seems to rise more everyday. The little plastic hot house (See here how it was built) was getting way too hot inside. The thermometer I've put inside only registers to 50C so I've no idea just how hot it was getting.

Solution?:
Earlier in the season I put a cover of shadecloth over the roof leaving the plastic in situ.
Now I have removed the front and rear panels of plastic and replaced them with leftover pieces of shadecloth.
I chose the lighter colour for the front to keep light levels up but in the rear where light wasn't so important I've used a black piece I had.

Result:
Already the temps have dropped to a more bearable level with the flow through of air this now allows.
I can now continue to use this house as a propagating area as well as continuing to grow the boxes of Basil that are enjoying the consistent conditions and the bug free environment.