Summer Seems to be Over.

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 06:03:2010:

Broad Bean seedlings emerging
on Wicking Bed 2 in the Main Vegetable Garden

Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 8.8C
Lowest Max 23.3C
Highest Max 30.3C
No Recorded Rainfall

What's the weather been like in the garden?
Much cooler and quite windy! Just like autumn should be!
A good time to get out in the garden and get busy ready for the coming winter.

Propagation:
Seeds:


Celery- Pink from Eden Seeds
Endive- Salad King from Eden Seeds
Fennel- Bronze from Eden Seeds
Lovage from Cornucopia Seeds
Sage- Grandfather from Cornucopia Seeds
Spinach- Bloomsdale Long Standing from Eden Seeds


Planting out:
Beetroot- Golden Detroit
Broccoli- Purple Sprouting
Celery- Chinese (Soup)
Dandelion Red Ribbed (Chicory)
Kale- Squire
Kale- Mixed Moreton
Kale- Lacinato
Mixed Greens including Red Choi, Goldrush Lettuce, Tatsoi, Curled Parsley, Chervil
Peas- Bush Youngs Wonder

Cuttings/Division:
Sweet Potato for experimental over wintering in the hot house.

In the Garden This week:

I dug up the last of the Potatoes, before Gingey (the last remaining Ginger Girl) demolished the lot! Including the worms in the wicking bed.
I moved aside the mulch, loosened the soil added some chopped Comfrey leaves to feed the worms.
Later in the week I planted out Purple Sprouting Broccoli seedlings with some Chinese Celery as companion plants.
These were covered with bread crates and the whole bed has a curtain over some pipe hoops to keep off Cabbage White Butterflies, Aphids and the possibility of Locusts oh! and Gingey.

please click to enlarge photo

Another curtain has been added to the Wicking Bed by the Old Chook House after removing the shadecloth cover.
A mix of Kales has been planted here...some Squire, Lacinato and Moreton Mix which appear to be mainly Russian Reds.

On one side (Eastern) I have planted out some of the Golden Detroit Beetroot seedlings.

At the bottom front edge in the soil I trenched the soil up as this is where the overflow from the wicking bed drains.
In this little patch I planted several Red Ribbed Dandelion/Chicory.

please click to enlarge photo

Over in the Main Vegetable Garden in Wicking Bed 3 I had a spare corner now that some of the Parsnips and Carrots have been harvested.
I moved the mulch off the surface and scratched the soil.
I added a bucket of moistened coir along with a bucket of worm castings/compost as well as the worms that were in it.
Into this moist, rich mix I planted a mixture of greens for salads and stirfries.

These included Red Choi, Goldrush Lettuce, Tatsoi, Curled Parsley, Chervil and were covered with a loose curtain to stop the blackbirds scratching them up!

In the Dog Pen Garden Keyhole Bed the Sweet Potatoes
have just about taken over.

I have snipped a few of the ends off (in an effort to contain the beasts!) and taken cuttings of about 30cm in length.

Some of these are in a large pot
and some I've left in a bucket of water.

I'm experimenting with these to see if I can overwinter them in the hot house! This would allow me to get the plants off to a very early start next season and maybe get some tuber growth happening!

The Trees For Life boxes need to be in full sun now for their final 2 months of growing. Doc and I scrounged around and made this temporary stand out of a large wooden pallet and old stool frames. The boxes fit on top and are at a very good height to work at for final thinning, grading and checking.
Yes The Black Ninja was there to help!

Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Amaranth- Leaf***20g
Capsicum- King of the North***126g
Carrots- Chantenay Red-cored***71g
Cucumber- Marketmore***39g
Parsnip- Hollow Crown***112g
Potatoes- Kennebec***975g
Silverbeet- Rainbow Mix***78g
Tomato- Ida Gold***46g
Tomato- Grosse Lisse***174g
Zucchini- Black***285g
Apple- Cox's Orange Pippin***369g
Apple- Jonathon***372g
Figs***550g
Nashi***797g

Eggs
14 from the Farmyard Ferals


To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE