Garden Share Collective – September

Month three and I’m loving being part of the Garden Share Collective. A monthly community of like minded garden enthusiasts who want to share their vege patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow  – the trials and tribulations of growing your own!

Wow what a weekend. I woke on Saturday to crystal blue skies with a light breeze and loads of sunshine. Perfect day to give the feijoas a haircut. As Andrew had opted not to help (mean ah) I did 15 trees on my own – sporting a nice blister to prove it too!  Truth is some of them are getting a bit big – but at least the birds can now fly in to pollinate them. Feijoas are just wonderful fruit trees … enjoyed immensely by us and the local wildlife, the turkeys!

I also cleaned out chook towers with bucket of soapy water and lavender oil (smells divine) and popped in some hay into those nest boxes and more wood shavings for the floor. I’m going to trim back some lavender and will poke these branches also into the nest boxes, mites aren’t too fused on the smell.

But more importantly, I have at last started sowing those seeds! Woohoo ..

Vege
Beetroot – Cylindra, Crosby Egyptian, Chioggia
Lettuce – Great lakes, Buttercrunch, Paris cos
Celery – Elne
Chilli – Cayenne, Jalapeño and Habanero
Pepper – Marconi red
Tomato – Beefsteak, Tommy toe and Cherokee
Herbs – Lime basil and Sweet basil, Chamomile and Coriander
Flowers
Lemon bergamot, Cleome, Zinnia, Shasta daisy, Fever few, Marigold

Good start! Very very happy indeed. I used a bulb tray which was donated by a neighbour and covered the base of this with paper and then filled it up with a good planting mix. Once all labels were written and sitting upright in the soil, I then carefully emptied seed into my hand and then pinched it between fingers  before dropping it onto the soil. Once all the seed was in situ, I sieved the soil mix on top of the seeds, removing any woody bits and also creating a fine even cover.  A good spray of water and onto the heat pad (yay), a cat deterrent rack on the top and hey presto done and dusted. I only took a few snaps this time around but check out a previous post for more info.

I must admit, I have changed my seed sowing technique ever so slightly but at the end of the day, as long as a relatively good medium is used, some heat from above or below (in my case) and regular watering you will have action!

We awoke to another ripper of a day … a quick walk on the beach, a Sunday morning pottering season in the garden was followed by at long last finishing the pruning in the orchard. Namely the pears, just a minor trim mind you, although I did remove the quince branch on the pear growing superbly from the graft union.

Andrew has also hauled the wood chipper out of the shed, blown away the winter cobwebs and mulched all my feijoa trimmings and some phoenix palm branches that have been waiting for such an occasion. Sensational!
Love this time of the year …

What’s up for September? Well, I’m going to sow more seed, namely the cucurbit family plus we will mulch the orchard. Andrew has started fertilising trees with rok solid so that will also be completed. Always weeding to do and we can’t forget sloshing that homemade brew around my lovely vege garden!

Happy gardening ..