Cup Day gardening

Being such nice weather outside (22°C / 71.6°F), we decided to make a no-dig garden bed out the back for the corn. After reading the no-dig companion planting guide, we might be able to combine some pumpkin in the same bed, too! Either way, we need more pea-straw before we can plant anything.

We got some metal stakes that came with the house, dug holes into the ground (which took quite an effort on Marty's part, since the ground is mostly rubble for the first 30cm (12") or so. Then we marked out holes in the corrugated iron and punched them through with a nail and hammer. We had some old wire that we cut and used to hold it all together.



The corrugated iron for the ends were bits from when the chook-house roof was made, so they were very sharp on the edges. The easy fix for that is to cut a length of plumbing pipe down the middle and cover the edge. Works like a charm!



Inside the garden bed is a layer of cardboard and newspaper at the very bottom, covered in a light layer of sheep manure. Then came the pea-straw layered with more sheep manure and a little of the really nice soil (from the local bowls club) mixed in.

It was Melbourne Cup Day today, and we assumed the garden nursery would be closed for the day, so we'll get some more tomorrow and finish the job!

Elsewhere in the garden, we found a good use for the old horrible carpet - compost heap covers! It's looking a little messy, but hopefully the results will be worth it. :)



And here, I've been meaning to post a picture of the She-Oak trees on the back fence, but they're not very photogenic. Here's the best shot I've been able to muster so far:



We've put some eucalyptus mulch down around all 3 of them, and it's helping keep the moisture in. They're going crazy at the moment, even the "dead" one has sprung back to life and is making new shoots everywhere!

I'll be sure to post more pics of the finished project tomorrow. Until then...