Cool, the big warming pad will be here “today” which means Wednesday  and sparky will be here Fri to connect my cooktop and wall oven and relocate the kitchen light switch. Will get him to install a double power point in the front porch then next week start planting tomato seeds.

Some time this week or early next, depending on the weather—pick up my tree order. Trees will go into pots.

The blueberry plants will go into their permanent large pots. Winter and until end of flowering they will spend behind the house where they are protected from frost but will get all the chill hours they need, then go to the sunny spot be perfect from them inside a permanent metal cage to protect the fruit from birds and possums.

When it comes to chill hours: frosts and temperatures below zero do not count to towards the chill hours total—weird eh?

Popped down to the nursery to pick up my (probably last) tree order. lIttle trip of 250Km each way. Socks was in the car of course—would fret and stress and cry and whine etc if I left her home. We did a half hour walk after picking up the trees and a shorter walk each way in Campbelltown, half way mark.

Now, Tiffany was a tiny dog, a mere 2.5Kg. She was really really good, very impressive for a tiny dog. Socks is not tiny, is more than ten times Tiffy’s weight.

Given the length of the trip you will understand why I had to lower my window twice.

I got my washing off the line and decided to have a look at my broadbean patch.

Wow! The first half of the patch I planted has pretty much all sprouted, the second half likely will poke its seed leaves above the ground next week. This is all proceeding much slower than it did in Adelaide.

In Adelaide I planted my broadbeans in May and a week later the seed leaves were peeking out the ground. In winter the short stalks did not tend to break in winter gales. Planting in early March sees metre and a half stalks that break in winter gales.

Here our friendly pollinators will become active later than on the mainland so the later planting and slower growth don’t matter as much. The plants won’t be very tall and so will survive winter quite well.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2024 at 11:51am:


Well done.
I planted a mix of seeds (eggplant, purple beans and zucchinis) in 4 of my wicking buckets.
Some are now coming up but I don't know what they are.
Should have planted all of one seed in one bucket and marked it.
Ones with big first leaves are coming up - could be egg plants.

What was going to be my vege patch will become more a berry patch:

Couple cherry trees

White, red and black currants

Raspberries (early and late)

Blueberries

Strawberries and,

Rhubarb, OK not a berry!


I have two young pepperberry trees—use the berries, dried, as a condiment also make metheglin, spiced mead.

Jams and jellies—pectin jellies, flavor gelatin jellies (and gelato!) plus stewed rhubarb with strawberries or plain, preserved for year round enjoyment.

Melomels—meads flavored with fruit

Country wines—made with fruit other than grapes

Could add mulberry—nah. Could add elderberry but think I bought my last trees now. Apple, pear, peach, cherry, pomegranate, quince, plum, currants, raspberries and blueberries. Plus veges.

Definitely want to add chooks—eggs from your own birds fed a wide variety of food are 1000% better than any store bought eggs.

First lot of broadbeans all up, pretty much, I reckon. The second lot, planted a bit later than the first starting to push seed leaves above the ground. In 2-3 weeks I will weed both patches.

Going to start estimating the area I need for my tomatoes (half a dozen packets of seeds San Marzano sauce tomatoes, Moneymaker eating tomatoes and cherry tomatoes some of which will be sun dried) and sweet corn + runner beans plus small patch of lettuce, capsicums, chilis & egg plant and herbs. Also plant peas as a green manure.

Will mark out the areas, move compost and sheep manure to each area, make sure I have enough. Sheep manure has more potassium and phosphorous than cow or chicken manure which are very high nitrogen and that’s about it.

The compost I use is not available from hardware stores but is a high grade compost I buy from a landscape supplies sort of place.

Hopefully all the soil treated with gypsum then compost + manure and cultivated etc will be improved, less claylike. One space I did not treat with gypsum (ran out of gypsum and time) so will make sure it will be the first space treated with gypsum next fall.

Found in the car this morning—packet of green manure seeds.

Too late to plant now, will plant in spring after the very rough dug soil is smoothed down in a space in the orchard where I won’t plant anything. ANYTHING to get the solid clay to turn to clay loam.

Been thinking about the tomatoes and sweetcorn—don’t want to shade the fruit trees so will plant just behind a “column” of trees, that will be just south of the trees, leave a metre in front of the next “column” of trees, can plant the green manure there or short crops–basil, thyme, parsley, lemon balm, sage etc etc.

Space between trees is four metres, lots of room.