We are about a third the way through summer now. Success in the veggie patch has been a result mainly of the following:
- snake beans
- okra
- luffa
Some intermittent success from:
- cucumber
- zucchini (but very small)
- lagos spinach just starting
The failures have been:
- Corn. This either gets eaten by various pests (mice, caterpillars) or fails to pollinate properly and we end up with cobs with very few kernels. It seems both research and protection is needed before we can grow corn successfully
- Malabar spinach. Strangely, we grew this well in our previous place but here we aren't having any success. They germinate and grow a leaf or two but fail to thrive.
On the perennial side:
- Asparagus is growing and ferning up, but the beds have been invaded by grass and weeds
- Okinawa spinach was doing better in spring time. It seems to need a bit of shade in summer. A few plants have been produced by taking cuttings and rooting in water before potting up.
- Arrowroot is growing well
- Pigeon peas doing well, but mostly grown as windbreak and shade plants for veggies, and as chop and drop, rather than for harvesting the peas
- Chillis are doing fairly well, but are being attached by lots of pests that eat the leaves and the chillis
- Capsicum hasn't been doing so well, just producing a few small fruit
- Banana trees are growing, but it is too early for fruit
- Panama berries growing well. They don't seem to like the wind that much. But they do love being in the chicken coop with all the poop around. And the chickens love the berries in return.
- Turmeric is growing, slowly. Time will tell whether this is a success.
- Yacon growing well, but we won't know until we harvest
- Ditto for taro
- Sweet potato is taking over (but again, not sure if they will offer us much more than a ground cover).
Monday, 15 January 2018
Winter
Last year we were living near the coast so ended up with a pretty warped view of what winter was like here. Now that we've moved about 10km inland, things are different (much colder). For the record, here is what our winter has been like:
June - a wee bit cold in the mornings but still in the double digits. 10 was probably the coldest it ever got to. I kept all my trees outside at this time and they weren't suffering too much.
July/August - Things got real cold, with mornings frequently dipping into single digits. The coldest was 6 degrees, which happened about twice, 7 degrees which was not uncommon, with 10 probably being the average (there were some warm mornings around 12-14 degrees). There has been next to no rain in these two months. Also, the Westerly winds have been very strong during late July and August. We had a couple of freak days in the 30's, but otherwise maximum temperatures ranged from 20-26.
I planted broad beans around April/May, and while they have grown and flowered, they have produced no beans, despite being pollinated. I've put this down to the max temperatures being too warm. I've given them potash, so that shouldn't be lacking.
Daikon has grown well in wine barrels, and kohlrabi seems to be doing well. Chinese celery, after a slow start, has grown reasonably well. Wild tomatoes have been growing and fruiting all through winter, though I haven't sown any so not sure how they would go.
I planted out some bananas mid-August (based on my warped sense of when the weather would warm up). They are surviving, but not ecstatic. Brazilian spinach was also planted out in winter (in June) and has been suffering a bit - the one I have in a pot that spends days outside and nights in the shed is doing much better.
The polytunnel has been home to seedlings. Planted in early August, the following have germinated and are doing well:
- snake beans
- sunflower
- okra
- bitter melon
- luffa
- corn
So far the following has failed to germinate. Not sure if due to the weather or due to poor seed:
- zucchini
- watermelon
- melon
Also I'm growing a cucumber in a wine barrel in the poly-tunnel, and it is producing. Basil also is growing, albeit a bit slowly.
Note there is a mouse problem - it has been digging up my seeds so now I have to put them away in polystyrene containers at night to protect them. They seem particularly partial to melon, corn, beans and zucchini.
June - a wee bit cold in the mornings but still in the double digits. 10 was probably the coldest it ever got to. I kept all my trees outside at this time and they weren't suffering too much.
July/August - Things got real cold, with mornings frequently dipping into single digits. The coldest was 6 degrees, which happened about twice, 7 degrees which was not uncommon, with 10 probably being the average (there were some warm mornings around 12-14 degrees). There has been next to no rain in these two months. Also, the Westerly winds have been very strong during late July and August. We had a couple of freak days in the 30's, but otherwise maximum temperatures ranged from 20-26.
I planted broad beans around April/May, and while they have grown and flowered, they have produced no beans, despite being pollinated. I've put this down to the max temperatures being too warm. I've given them potash, so that shouldn't be lacking.
Daikon has grown well in wine barrels, and kohlrabi seems to be doing well. Chinese celery, after a slow start, has grown reasonably well. Wild tomatoes have been growing and fruiting all through winter, though I haven't sown any so not sure how they would go.
I planted out some bananas mid-August (based on my warped sense of when the weather would warm up). They are surviving, but not ecstatic. Brazilian spinach was also planted out in winter (in June) and has been suffering a bit - the one I have in a pot that spends days outside and nights in the shed is doing much better.
The polytunnel has been home to seedlings. Planted in early August, the following have germinated and are doing well:
- snake beans
- sunflower
- okra
- bitter melon
- luffa
- corn
So far the following has failed to germinate. Not sure if due to the weather or due to poor seed:
- zucchini
- watermelon
- melon
Also I'm growing a cucumber in a wine barrel in the poly-tunnel, and it is producing. Basil also is growing, albeit a bit slowly.
Note there is a mouse problem - it has been digging up my seeds so now I have to put them away in polystyrene containers at night to protect them. They seem particularly partial to melon, corn, beans and zucchini.
Compost Tea
We need to build soil and adding compost tea seems to be a good way to do this, so that's what I'm about to embark on.
- I bought a 200L blue drum (food grade) for brewing the tea. Bought it for $25 off ebay
- Air pump. From my research needs to be at least 40L/min. Bought an electromagnetic one off ebay for about $60. I wanted to buy the Nitto Medo L60B like Richard Perkins uses at Ridgedale Permaculture but they cost over $300, so will only do that if I find the cheaper ones don't work.
- You need to strain the compost tea before applying it. According to Elaine Ingham a paint strainer is best but must be 400 microns to allow the microbes and fungi to get through (you can get finer paint strainers but they are going to filter out the fungi so this is an important thing to check)
- Currently investigating sprayers (again must have a nozzle 400 microns at least)...
- Clean equipment (e.g. sprayer/watering can/drum) after use. You can use hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or any other anti-microbial cleaner.
- Dilute the tea 5:1 rainwater:tea
- To keep your air pump from getting wet, place it 2 or 3 feet from the bucket. Its also good to put the pump either higher than your bucket or for your air hose to rise above the bucket a few inches to keep from getting tea back into the pump.
- When you finish brewing your compost tea, it should have an earthy smell. If it stinks, it means it didn’t get enough oxygen, and anaerobic bacteria took over.
- Several days before brewing your tea, mix some fungi food (like powdered oatmeal) into 1/2 gallon of moist compost, cover it, then store in a warm, dark place. When you are ready to brew your tea, your compost will be covered with strands of fungi. This will inoculate your tea with beneficial fungi.
- Use all the tea within a day
Tools and Materials Required
- Hydrogen peroxide for cleaning - TOBUY
- Long handled brush for cleaning the drum- TOBUY
- Sprayer- TOBUY
- Pump - Bought
- Paint strainers - Bought
- Drum - Bought
Ingredients required
- compost
- NO Molasses (Elaine Ingham does not recommend molasses)
- fish hydrolysate
- kelp meal
See Elaine Ingham's recipe.
- I bought a 200L blue drum (food grade) for brewing the tea. Bought it for $25 off ebay
- Air pump. From my research needs to be at least 40L/min. Bought an electromagnetic one off ebay for about $60. I wanted to buy the Nitto Medo L60B like Richard Perkins uses at Ridgedale Permaculture but they cost over $300, so will only do that if I find the cheaper ones don't work.
- You need to strain the compost tea before applying it. According to Elaine Ingham a paint strainer is best but must be 400 microns to allow the microbes and fungi to get through (you can get finer paint strainers but they are going to filter out the fungi so this is an important thing to check)
- Currently investigating sprayers (again must have a nozzle 400 microns at least)...
- Clean equipment (e.g. sprayer/watering can/drum) after use. You can use hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or any other anti-microbial cleaner.
- Dilute the tea 5:1 rainwater:tea
- To keep your air pump from getting wet, place it 2 or 3 feet from the bucket. Its also good to put the pump either higher than your bucket or for your air hose to rise above the bucket a few inches to keep from getting tea back into the pump.
- When you finish brewing your compost tea, it should have an earthy smell. If it stinks, it means it didn’t get enough oxygen, and anaerobic bacteria took over.
- Several days before brewing your tea, mix some fungi food (like powdered oatmeal) into 1/2 gallon of moist compost, cover it, then store in a warm, dark place. When you are ready to brew your tea, your compost will be covered with strands of fungi. This will inoculate your tea with beneficial fungi.
- Use all the tea within a day
Tools and Materials Required
- Hydrogen peroxide for cleaning - TOBUY
- Long handled brush for cleaning the drum- TOBUY
- Sprayer- TOBUY
- Pump - Bought
- Paint strainers - Bought
- Drum - Bought
Ingredients required
- compost
- NO Molasses (Elaine Ingham does not recommend molasses)
- fish hydrolysate
- kelp meal
See Elaine Ingham's recipe.
Bamboo
It is 2018 and we've kicked off the year by starting our bamboo windbreak. We've picked a small area to start with and will make this wider than the rest of the windbreak. It will double as a nice mini bamboo forest with a path that leads to a small clearing. The species chosen is Gigantochloa pseudoarundinacea cv. Gombong Batu. The main species recommended for windbreaks is Bambusa oldhamii, but the max height of this (18m), which is usually less in Australia, is not really tall enough for my needs. The species chosen (Gombong Batu) gets to 30m, theoretically, so is more appropriate. It is also good for structural use and has a pretty good edibility rating also. Depending on the performance of this area, we may continue with this species for the remainder of the windbreak or fall back on B.oldhamii.
The soil is quite compacted and full of clay, so we've added gypsum and compost to the holes, measure which will hopefully be sufficient to allow the bamboo to grow well. The plants have also been innoculated with mycorrhizal fungal spores, and the bottom of the planting holes sprinkled with biochar. Once planted, around, but not directly on top, Dynamic Lifter pellets have been sprinkled and the bamboo is sheet mulched for a 1m radius with newspapers and thick layers of lucerne mulch placed on top. Hopefully this will be enough to keep the grass at bay until the plants become self-mulching (with their allelopathic leaves).
I also couldn't resist purchasing 4 plants to kick off our bamboo plantation. This will occupy a North-facing slope on the Southern part of the property. There is a large dam between it and the house which will act as a firebreak, although if you maintain your bamboo it shouldn't be too much of a fire risk. The plants selected were Dendrocalamus asper (two different cultivars - the Indonesian clone and Betung Hitam, a black culmed variety), which produces very large and sweet shoots for eating. Eventually the plantation will also have D.latiflorus and Nastus elatus, with potentially a few other species for fun, but the D.asper and D.latiflorus will comprise the majority of plants. Row spacings of approximately 7m will be followed to allow passage of a tractor if need be. The rows will also be oriented slightly off contour with parallel ditches leading down hill and each plant surrounded by a basin connected to the ditch. The idea is that a solar pump will pump water from the dam up to the top of the slope and into the ditch which will feed water downhill into all the basins one at a time, overflowing and continuing onto the next one, until it reaches a spillway at the bottom and ends up back in the dam. It may be an idea to plant more vegetation, possibly a reed bed filter system, below the bamboo so that the high nitrogen runoff can be filtered before re-entering the dam.
The soil is quite compacted and full of clay, so we've added gypsum and compost to the holes, measure which will hopefully be sufficient to allow the bamboo to grow well. The plants have also been innoculated with mycorrhizal fungal spores, and the bottom of the planting holes sprinkled with biochar. Once planted, around, but not directly on top, Dynamic Lifter pellets have been sprinkled and the bamboo is sheet mulched for a 1m radius with newspapers and thick layers of lucerne mulch placed on top. Hopefully this will be enough to keep the grass at bay until the plants become self-mulching (with their allelopathic leaves).
I also couldn't resist purchasing 4 plants to kick off our bamboo plantation. This will occupy a North-facing slope on the Southern part of the property. There is a large dam between it and the house which will act as a firebreak, although if you maintain your bamboo it shouldn't be too much of a fire risk. The plants selected were Dendrocalamus asper (two different cultivars - the Indonesian clone and Betung Hitam, a black culmed variety), which produces very large and sweet shoots for eating. Eventually the plantation will also have D.latiflorus and Nastus elatus, with potentially a few other species for fun, but the D.asper and D.latiflorus will comprise the majority of plants. Row spacings of approximately 7m will be followed to allow passage of a tractor if need be. The rows will also be oriented slightly off contour with parallel ditches leading down hill and each plant surrounded by a basin connected to the ditch. The idea is that a solar pump will pump water from the dam up to the top of the slope and into the ditch which will feed water downhill into all the basins one at a time, overflowing and continuing onto the next one, until it reaches a spillway at the bottom and ends up back in the dam. It may be an idea to plant more vegetation, possibly a reed bed filter system, below the bamboo so that the high nitrogen runoff can be filtered before re-entering the dam.
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