Spring is here

The rainfall for this September is already above the long-term average, with more rain predicted for later tonight and the coming week. We had 42mm in the last seven days!

The garden is looking fresh and green. Over the weekend I planted two artichokes and about 10 lettuce plants that I received from my friend Gay.

I set the artichokes between left over capsicum plants from last year which looked like they were sprouting and showed some new leaves. I am not sure whether artichokes and capsicums are companion plants. A bit of research found that artichokes grow well with sunflower and tarragon. The plants don't dislike each other so all should be right, although it might be a bit late in the year for artichokes in our climate anyway , but  that can't be changed now.

The lettuces were put into one of the two new garden beds that so far had only been filled with jarrah saw dust and woodchips. Lifting the soil I found that the winter rains had helpted turn this into some decent looking earth already. However, below each plant I ensured there was plenty of compost to give them a good start. The predicted rain will hopefulla assist as well, as the first sunny day already already give them a bit of a hard time. But it should be right.

Compost is ready for more planting after the new moon this Tuesday. I emptied one of the three bins and put the compost into an unusued small rubbish bin that I found behind the house, no longer being the right size for the council service. It comes with a lid and has wheels as well, so just the right thing to keep the compost until it's needed and to easily wheel it to the garden bed for the new plants.

I want to return the borrowed green tumbler and cleaned and scrubbed it to regain the state it was in when I got it three years ago. I consider myself as very lucky to have friends that let me borrow their compost tumbler. Lots of spring flowers are out and make a much better sight than the newly planted artichokes and the new lettuces!

First bean(s)

Yesterday we discovered the first beans, only one is ready for harvest, a yellow butterbean. But I consider it a great start and there are plenty of flowers for more to follow.

The climbing beans are utilising the banboo poles and growing past the top with their shoots looking for the next benture post. I am not sure whether to cut off the shoots at the top to encourage them to grow side shoots and more flowers there. I am grateful that google and the many gardening links give me such helpful gardening resources.

And I treasure the support from friendly gardeners at Permaculture West and Grow it Yourself Australia. I am committed to establishing a local group of people who grow their own food in my neighbourhood. This has the aim to share experiences, seeds and seedlings; to pass on excess harvest, if any; and to simply broaden my network and connections in my suburb. I see more and more raised garden beds popping up on the verge and there still are the old Italian, Serbian and Greek growers that use their suburban block for vegetable gardening, growing chillies, artichokes, eggplant and heaps of tomatoes. I want to connect these neighbours and bring the growing community together. But that needs a bit of work and plenty of time, letter dropping, writing articles for the local community newspaper. I decided to start with a flyer to give out on the Open Day of my friendly Loftus Community Centre on 19 February and  put up some flyers at the local shop and the local library. Taking things easy is the motto: Slow food and slow growth.

The jarrah saw dust has composted well. I mixed it in with plenty of leaves, dirt I swept together from under the clothes line and a big bucket of emu manure that I soaked well overnight. The small flakes of the jarrah sawdust ghave a great texture to the compost, also it soaked up a lot of moisture. I also cleared out the worm farm and added the mixture to the compost. Then  I added some bentonite clay from my cat litter box and some epson salt/magnesium.

Two big pots of compost as a result of only two weeks turning of the compost barrel. I cover the compost with some cardboard and carpet during daytime, but still some moisture escapes, might think about a better design and have earmarked an old small rubbish bin to keep the compost until it is needed. But I read it is much better to use it right away than saving it for some later days.

I am looking forward to the first crops growing in the compost and planted another lot of tomatoes in the corner of one of the raised garden beds. But the sun is still very hot and they did not survive their first night well. I hope that shade cloth will give them a bit of relief.

After emptying both compost barrels I already put another lot on, same mixture. It is already looking good after just three days!

The new moon has brought us the Year of the Rabbit. I let the first period for planting in February go without much work bacause of ongoing 35 degrees and a hot sun. I am pleased that we were spared from high winds and cyclone Bianca. Although we had a bit of wind, the big ficus still worked well as wind break in our garden. That big tree will certainly escape the chop when we tidy up the back of the block to prepare for fruit trees before the rain comes.

It's time to plan the winter crop and I have taken some leave after dental sugery. If only my brain would work with the pain killers.

Compost - my recipe

I started a new compost last week and we added more vegetable scraps from the market today.

To get it going I used food scraps from the kitchen, pulled out some pumpkin seedlings that started growing in the wrong spot and added dead leaves, wet cardboard, wet straw, one bag of shredded newspaper, a bucket of emu manure - that I soaked in water overnight to soften it up - and added more water to keep it moist.

We filled up the second hand composter in the bag that is my own, the front one if from a friend and the same make.
Before today the composter was already about half full. Once matter is added it starts heating up immediately. Great piece of machinery and easy to turn. I agree with the product description: "It provides the right environment for naturally occurring aerobic bacteria to develop and thrive, heating the contents, eliminating unpleasant smells and methane gas which causes atmospheric pollution."


The company tells me that the composter sells for a whopping $477 plus $150 freight, as they come from NSW. The composter apparently was out of production but is now being made again. A lot of money but I think it's a worthwhile investment, as it keeps producing high quality compost!

Jules went to the market early morning and brought along three bags of vegetable scraps, apples, tomatoes, salad, cabbage, rockmelons, and even a papaya, from which I saved the seeds for another project. We chopped it all up more or less finely and added it into the barrel. Next door Jules swapped two buckets full of veggie scraps for some chicken manure and that went into the mixture too. We added more leaves, more soaked emu manure and the barrel was nearly full after two hours work.

We emptied the front composter. The compost was three weeks old and more than ready. The rosmarin  aroma the compost had in the first days, from the bush of rosmarin that we shreddered into the barrow then, had left by now. Only a lot of stalks were left, but they were not in the way. This composter is now ready for the next heap.

From the garden workshop I remember to treat a composter like a washing machine, throw everything in at the same time and do not keep adding dirty socks when the load is ready to rinse. Therefore I will start preparing the new compost from today. If we got into a cycle every every week emptying one and setting up the new one, we should be just right. What this garden needs is a lot more organic matter, such as compost and the two barrels are the ideal tool to get just that happening. Jules attended the workshop as well last week and was sharing his experience. He liked it and learnt a lot. he especially liked the style and the no frills approach. We will drum up a few more participants when the workshops restart next year.

No rain but all is well

I remember the lack of rain last summer. We did not get any rain between October and March. This year the watertank was filled again at the end of October or start of November but it looks like we are heading towards the driest year on record. We only received half the winter rain and are set towards a total of under 500mm per year, instead of average rainfall of 825mm.

Still, our garden is looking good. The water level in the tank is down by about one third. I have been watering twice a day, al;hough my friend told me that watering once every few days with a decent amount of water is better for the plants as it encourages the roots to grow deeper. But still I love hand watering with my watering can and so far have kept it to 60-70 liters a day.

After the third bed got prepared I left it for a few days until I planted the capsicums. My Macedonian gardening friend gave me a few different varieties, peppers and capsicum, some hot, some not. I distributed them over two beds, 10-15 each bed. I wonder who will eat all the harvest, but we are not there yet. My friend freezes the capsicum after drying it in the oven. She also gave me a thick vegetable onion. I knew about this variety, as my mother grows them in Germany. Great sweet veggies for soups.

On Saturday I took my remaining capsicum seedlings to another friend, an organic grower who lives in the city not far away. She showed me through her magnificent garden. A diversity of plants everywhere with lots of natural shade from trees and many other plants under shade cloth. She grows most veggies in raised garden beds as she is an elderly lady who has mobility issues. I came home with a bucket full of lemons and the idea to name the different garden beds. She gives her garden beds a proper name and not just a number. Have to speak to Jules about what names we could use, or may be we simply number them in Italian numbers. Or may be Italian cities. Friends of mine who own a flower farm near Darwin named their vehicles over the years in alphabetical order, starting with a they now have reached S, they have been in the business for a while.

Last week I set up a new batch of compost. We used a lot of shredded fresh cuttings, a big bush of rosemary went in and gave the compost an instant nice smell. We shredded newspaper and the neighbour came over because of the loud noise of the petrol run machine. Jules got a lot of veggie leftover from the markets, three full bags. I got the big chopping board and a decent knife and cut the stuff fine enough over three days, the last lot went in on Wednesday. I also added worm mixture and sheep poo.

My green ezyroll compost barrow is advertised to make compost in just fourteen days.  I start to believe that.It is a great instrument! Turning the barrow every day makes the mixture to change composition, colour and texture. We checked the compost out yesterday and it looked good enough to put it in the ground right away. But we will wait with the next bed until the new moon coming Sunday.

My raised garden bed (colour bond, steel) is three metres long and 1m high, it is still in two pieces, waiting to find a place in the garden. We decided to cut it in half and use it for two raised beds. It makes sense cut it in half, as the plants only use the top 30-50cm of the soil anyway. We decided on the places where to put them, one will go under the ficus tree protecting it from the scorching summer heat and the other one will go next to the back door under a wattle tree. I want to plant beans and have checked my sortiment of seeds for other potential summer crops, freely polinated varieties for sure.

All plants are in good order, they look healthy and happy. Biggest growth was with a zucchini plant which is four times the size of before. The tomatoes have been stinged up between fence droppers, to help them cope with the recent heavy winds. the potatoes are doing find. they are shaded from the morning and afternoon sun, but struggle a bit in the midday sun and we are thinking about using an old swing set as a share house for that patch.


A friend told me about the Organic Association of WA. I will make contact and join that group, they sound like sensible people. I also thought about setting up a gardening chat at the Loftus Community Centre. I am sure that we have many people in my direct neighbourhood who would love to learn hos to grow healthy food.

I noticed the big difference the garden has made in my life. I love hand watering each plant, talking to it and sending out good energy for it to grow. It gives my day order and meaning. I happily get up around 6am to water and check on the plants, smiling when I fill up the water tank.I harvested the first three strawberries, sharing the berries carefully with my children. Small but sweet! Great reward for the two bottles of beer that I sacrificed as slug traps.

Mother earth knows that we care and every little bit counts.