The lettuce and carrot bed is being watered twice a day (at least until the carrots sprout), and the lettuce are sitting upright now, so I think they'll be ok after the transplanting.
The pond has gone, and all the grass that use to be there is long dead. It's a very difficult area with the heavy clay. We've planted 3 different plants there in hopes that something will take - but at least one of them is dead already, and another is well on the way.
In desperation, I threw down some sunflower seeds...
Wish them luck, they'll need it! :)
In the front garden bed, I planted out some corn the other day, as well as some beans. The beans have already been eaten by what are probably earwigs.. *sigh* So, if you see a heap of Nuttelex containers around, they're earwig traps. They work quite well, too!
We just cut holes in the sides, fill the container up with used cooking oil, pop the lid back on and put them into the garden. Nothing seems to enjoy used cooking oil like an earwig or few. ;)
This is my favourite garden bed at the moment. There are peas, snow peas, cabbage, rosemary, corn and beans too. The beetroot are flowering!
The biggest cabbage! The variety is called Sugarloaf, and I'm so looking forward to trying it! All the cabbage at the greengrocer and supermarkets are looking very sad lately.
The apple tree is looking lovely! I planted out some nasturtiums around the base. Unfortunately we don't have a second apple tree, so no apples for us this year!
Same goes for the pear tree. Still, it's looking healthier than last year, and (hopefully) next year we'll have another pear for it to pollinate with.
Lastly, I spent today cleaning a couple of old Kenwood Chef mixers that I picked up yesterday. The second one was "thrown in" to the deal, which was fantastic value at only $45! They should make light work of the bread mixing, now that we're baking at least twice a week.
Until next time!
I wonder if lomandra longifolia (or basket grass) would grow in the area you're having problems with? They don't mind getting their feet wet, nor a bit of drought. We have clay soil here and lomandra does well.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard the trick about sprinkling gypsum on clay soil? It's meant to break up the particles of clay. We always incorporate it into a hole we dig new plants into.
Love your sugarloaf. We have large outside leafs with very small heads, unfortunately. :(
Hi Chris - we have some lomandra longifolia growing in the back strip at the moment. I'd love to grow more, as it hasn't died yet. ;) It's just a matter of getting more tubestock, because my seeds don't germinate.
ReplyDeleteWe used gypsum in the holes of most of the plants in the back area, yes. I don't know why I havn't considered it for the pond area though!
I'm not expecting big heads on the sugarloaf, either. It's a lovely big plant, but I'll be happy with whatever comes our way!
Could you plant something like irises that like wet feet, they look so beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteHope your corn does better than mine, the b***y bandicoots dug it up the same day I planted it. I've put them back in but I don't like their chances.
Hi Greenfumb! Irises.. that might be what the neighbour has on her side of the fence. They made it under the fence this year and produced a lovely blue/purple flower. 3 petals I think? Lovely things! I might increase their population. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the corn. No bandicoots around here, though! Perhaps raised garden beds for the corn would help? The only natives we have in the garden (besides the birds) are blue-tongue lizards. One of the downsides (or upsides, depending on how you look at it) of living in town.
Speaking of which, I uprooted a fairly newly planted bush the other day with the scythe - I saw it just in time to slow down the scythe, so the bush wasn't cut in half, but it's not happy about being ripped out. :)
You're absolutely right about not having successful seed germination. I just recently learned myself that lomandra requires both male and female plants to get viable seed. Strange plant but nearly indestructable.
ReplyDeleteYou can actually dig up your old clump and divide it. You just need to trim back the leafs to about 30cms in length, before replanting the smaller clumps again.
Of course tubestock is a lot easier and they establish quickly.