Monday, June 9, 2014

In the winter garden and a chicken bower

Winter, that's a bit of a joke.  Although there's a cool breeze today, outside it's quite warm enough for a t-shirt.  It's good growing weather, warm days and cool nights.


This is the bed I had prepared last week and is now planted with broad beans, Asian cabbage, spinach, collards, and too hard to see, calendulas and heartsease.  Radish seeds in the middle space.
 

This is a new bed I finished a couple of days ago, after breaking my back removing weeds and hauling soil.  It's now home to snow peas, a couple more broad bean plants, some bok choy and marigolds.  Radish seeds in the "holes" in the mulch.
Homemade climbing trellis for the peas, using long branches picked up on my doggy walks.
 
When the sun gets too hot for the tender seedlings, the trellis supports shade cloth. This area used to be in shade in the afternoon, but is now in full sun since the jacaranda tree fell.
Potatoes doing well, they've been hilled up twice since I took this picture, and I've nearly unrolled all the way to the top of the bags, they quite like being in the sun all day .

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The chickens have been noticing the absence of the jacaranda as well.......not only had their run become very hot without it, but they had lost their "jungle" overhead, which made them feel safe, and so they wouldn't venture out into the open space.  So I made them a shady jungle bower from the broken branches that had to be trimmed off the mulberry tree. Not pretty but it works.


 
 Spangly Lola, golden Juno and a black blob which is Brenna, happily hidden away....I think they like it.

 
 Today, I need to check on the newest seedlings of bok choy and kale and see if they're ready to plant out, start some more seeds and I know there are tomatoes ready to be potted on.....all that and some sewing to hopefully finish off the Seed Packet quilt will fill the day quite nicely.

...............until next time

8 comments:

  1. Its odd reading about gardening on the other side of the world, you are just planting your broad beans I am just about to pick mine.

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  2. Yum, hope you've got a bumper crop, Debbie. I love hearing about what's happening with other gardeners.

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  3. I just put in my tomato and snow pea chicken wire trellises yesterday, and this morning I've spotted the first flower buds on the tomatoes. We're having strong winds today, up to 40kph, and the netting cage with the weighted hem is working brilliantly, staying just where it's supposed to!

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  4. Hang onto your hat Kate.......a good test of your new netting cage though, glad it works. I'll come have a look.

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  5. hello, Nanette..i just had a wonderful time reading back through your
    days...love your potatoe planting...could maybe use the Goat pellet
    sacks here...and always the doings of the chickens...i hope you
    work out a good bower for them as it goes along...dear them...

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  6. I'm loving your garden, Nanette and the girls, Lola, Juno and Brenna, such great names -- did I miss a post on the potato bags? They are fantastic, did you make them? I'll scroll back a ways to look for them now. xoxo

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    Replies
    1. Found them! Are they all cotton or do they have a plastic coating? And so sorry for the neighbor problem, people just don't realize their effect. Good you spoke up though, straightforwardness is a skill and a strength.

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    2. Hi Peggy, there is a coating on the bags, but with holes poked in the base they do fine. I must do an update post, as the potatoes are climbing out the top. Nothing changed after speaking to the neighbour, despite her saying she didn't want to upset me, but I guess the urge to smoke overrules everything else.

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