Gee, I can't believe as I look at this that it's been 3 months since my last post. This is not because I'm too busy, although I have been up to stuff, it's often because I don't think things I'm up to are all that interesting, or I've been working on a new project and I think I should have all the details together before I post it. Well, enough procratination, here's the update on recent stuff, at least the bits I'm excited enough to mention.
Firstly, I'm pleased to say my chickens have resumed laying. I've noticed a pattern over the last few years. They always begin to lay again, just after the winter solstice which for us was the 21st of June this year. It took about a week before the first egg appeared. Unfortunately it would appear that only one of my chooks is laying though, and this was the case before they stopped for the winter, so my thoughts have been straying towards getting another, although I am concerned about whether I can just introduce a stranger to their little group. If you're reading this and you've got any tips for making the transition easy for them please let me know. I recently spent a day at a friends home and was amazed at the wonderful chickens she had and my husband was inspired by her idea for raising guinea fowl as babies with baby chickens.
I've not planted much this winter, just one lot of broad beans and some peas, with the peas giving me my first small harvest today. The choko vines have continued to keep giving me the occassional choko, and from the rest of the garden, a few bell peppers, lots of chillis, a pile of ginger, lots of gooseberries and even some waterchestnuts. Spring has started to warm the garden and my peach, nectarine and plum have donned their first green sprigs and delicate flowers. Even the citrus have joined in, with my new baby lemonade tree even in flower for it's first time. The rain has kept everything green, and my blueberries have never been happier.
Winter has also been a time for getting jobs done in the garden that I'd hesitate to tackle during the heat of summer here. The neighbour has cut down and cut back lots of overgrown trees and let the sunshine into areas of my garden that have been really dark until now. Spurred on by the sunshine we've cleared some overhanging branches and had a big tidy up as well. The old shed has been moved onto a concrete pad that was on the other side of the house and had two sets of old metal shelves we've had for years assembled inside to give me great storage for all my gardening bits. And we've put up some great fencing that we got second hand at a bargain price to replace the holey fencing that was previously around that side of the house as well. As much as my chickens haven't tried to escape through it for some time, I've been concerned that it isn't much protection for them from dogs wandering around the neighbourhood. In tandem with digging holes for the fencing I've pulled out a lot of the singapore daisy that's got out of control here too. There's still a heap more to get out, but I've at least halved it. Everytime I pass the area now I look for any new little shoots popping up that I might have missed. It's time consuming but it's the only way I know to get rid of it. Again, if you're reading this and you've got any organic suggestions for eradicating this weed please let me know as I still have days, if not weeks of weeding ahead of me at this point.
At the other end of the garden my garden beds are undergoing a transformation. To date my gardens have started as 'no dig' beds and then after a crop has been grown, the chook pen would be moved on top, and the girls would work in lots of sugarcane mulch as they dug around searching for seeds and bugs, then left to rest after having some extra compost worked in, ready for their next crop. The system has been great except for a couple of draw backs. During summer these garden beds get large amounts of direct sunlight and watering once a day isn't enough. At times when their is no one to water them each day I've lost many new seedlings and the daily drought then flood at watering time has resulted in poorer production. So this winter I've taken time from the gardening to create new garden beds that I hope will solve this problem, but more on this when I've finished and got photos etc ready to post.
And just to finish off, I was delighted to find a big green frog in the garden. I haven't seen one for quite a while.
