We have had some of the worst weather I have ever experienced in Auckland this past week. I scratch my head at times and wonder at the wisdom of living on an island in the South Pacific! Nice spot to be when the weather is good, but! This past week we have been hammered by north east winds which rocked the house, tore branches from trees and generally made venturing outdoors unpleasant.
Then there was the rain … and volumes of it with no respite. The heavens opened and threw it down in force. As can be expected there has been flooding (shocking up in Northland), soggy paddocks, bedraggled livestock and chooks. Yes it has been a week to remember or perhaps one to forget! The positioning of my vegetable gardens on the side of a hill is dubious to say the least. Where was that book on permaculture when we first moved here? And to think I did 4 years of horticulture! So while the drainage is brilliant these gardens do get assaulted by the wind. There is a garden complete with trees, phoenix palm and shrubs which bears the brunt of the NE wind – but it still managed to tear my peas down from their trellis (I pegged them back up LOL) and shake up my brassicas tossing many of them into the dirt. What did I do? I mounded them up with loads of mulch. Perfect!
I went and bought some strawberry plants yesterday – which is big for me as I have never grown them before. The nominated bed will be the insectary where I am going to mound soil (approx 10cm high) and mix in lots of composted horse poo and some coffee grounds. Next up, those plants which are Sundae and Camarosa varieties will be poked into the soil spaced at about 15cm per plant and then mulched with some pine needles, which as we have about 500 pine trees we have no shortage of. As strawberries enjoy slightly acidic soil they will no doubt be very happy here, oh and I shan’t be adding any lime!
A shot of the team, they survived the rotten weather!
Not much else to report … except we are hoping for some nice weather in the next few days and the sun just happens to be shining!
Wherever you are – happy gardening!
