The second half of January has seen the picking season move from just a few items to plenty. My parents were visiting for a couple of weeks and Mum made me this arrangement of a day’s takings.
Read MoreMonth: January 2015
Growing okra; tough and super productive.
I’m so impressed with okra! They are extraordinarily hardy and bear a consistent yield of pods, they have a long season, and best of all the freshly picked fruit is much better than shop bought pods.
Read MoreMung bean early harvest
The mung bean bed was a spur of the moment thing that paid off. I had a bed dug at the mid levels and a pack of mung beans that had beetles, which I was using for sprouts for the chickens. So I took a handful of beans down and tossed them on.
Read MoreSowing into no-dig beds
With another series of rain days forecast, it seems a good opportunity for sowing into no dig beds that I made a few weeks ago. We have been busy with visitors for that time, so yesterday was my first chance to get down and have a look at how the hay rows are doing.
Read MoreHeirloom tomatoes ready to pick
At last our tomatoes are ripening! So today for lunch we are having a freshly picked assortment, seasoned with Majorcan black olive salt, which was a gift from some of our visitors over the break.
Read MoreThree sisters at 10 weeks.
The Three Sisters are one of my experimental plots. Having the space and climate means that I can give things a try, and as I outlined in my previous update, the Three Sisters mix of maize, beans and melons is a technique that I have wondered about, which seems pretty neat and sustainable. The Red Aztec maize that I planted seemed to do well through our dry Spring, and I only watered it when it wilted. The rain finally came nearly 3 weeks ago, and here’s a photo of the…
Read MoreNo-dig beds: A trial.
No-dig beds are a great idea, incorporating easy establishment of new garden beds with minimal disturbance to the soil. Permaculture, intensive horticulture, organic gardening; there are plenty of techniques to follow in your garden, and a purist might decide on one, rigorously apply it, and actively defend or promote it. I’m more interested in what works, and if that means different techniques for different spots, then great.
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