Changeable Weather

Scarecrow's Garden Log: 27:11:2010:
Peanut Cactus Echinopsis chamaecereuds is in Flower.
Temperatures this week:
Lowest Min 10.2C
Lowest Max 19.9C
Highest Max 32.2C
7mm Rain
What's the weather been like in the garden?

Warm to hot conditions early in the week meant the 50% shade cloth covers went up. Only to have the weather change to cloudy, humid and stormy. Oh well the covers will protect the beds from any heavy rain or even hail. Like the storm in this post from 2 years ago.
Propagation:
Seeds:
Carrot Early Nantes DT Brown Organic
Carrot Lunar White New Gippsland Seeds
Carrot Purple Dragon Home Saved Seeds
Carrot Solar Yellow New Gippsland Seeds
Radish Long Scarlett DT Brown
Radish Saxa 2 Mr Fothergills Organic
Black Wattle Acacia decurrens Cornucopia Seeds
Pink Silk Tree Albizia julibrissin Cornucopia Seeds
Mulga Acacia aneura Chris from Under the Chestnut Tree
First of the Trees For Life seeds:
Hakea Wattle Acacia hakeoides
Umbrella Wattle Acacia oswaldii
Prickly-leaved Wattle Acacia nyssophylla
Hard-leaved Wattle Acacia sclerophylla
Dryland Tea Tree Melaleuca lanceolata
Potting up/on:
Watermelon Blacktail Mountain
Watermelon Golden Midget
Watermelon Sugarbaby
Planting out:
Tomato Black Russian
Tomato Green Zebra
Tomato Tommy Toe Yellow
In the Garden This week:
The original planting of Carrots in the Dog Pen Bed has failed. The earwigs ate every one of the newly germinated seedlings!!! I know better than to try and plant carrot seed into a bed that has not been completely cleared of all other plant growth and mulch.
A cleared bed has no hiding places for these little beasts.
So I cleared all growth (except a few straggly onions) from Bed 1 in the Main Veg Garden and carefully checked to rid it of any buglife. Satisfied that most of the bugs were gone I've sown more carrots and some radishes. The carrot seed was covered with moist coir and a plank of wood to help retain some moisture. I move the planks each time I pass the bed and remove any slaters and millipedes I find hiding there. So far I haven't found any earwigs.
Bed 3 the Delicata Squash and White Wonder Cucumbers are growing well. The Purple King Beans have germinated...let's hope the slaters and millipedes let a few survive.
I have added a mesh trellis to the hoop-arch to allow 1 Potimarron Pumpkin to grow over.
Bed 5 The Mangelwurzels were removed. The remaining greens went to the chooks and compost. Meanwhile we are considering just what we will do with the massive roots! All 18.95kg of them.
Tomatoes were planted here after adding some organic fertilizer and lots of worms and their castings.
Near Bed 7 (the Fence Edge Wicking bed) the Garlic (in the ground) is ready to harvest but some have flowered and I will let these go to see how the flower heads develop.
On Bed 6 the Squashes and Tomatoes are enjoying their shade while in the Bushfood Bed the Native Lemongrass is beginning to flower.

Out the back the Loganberries are nearly ripe
and the Thornless Blackberries are flowering!

The Black Sultana Grapevine over the pergola is in flower.
We check the vine daily for these Vine Moth Caterpillars
and squish them as we find them!
Weekly Harvest Tally:
Doesn't include Greens fed to the chooks on a daily basis or herbs picked for use in the kitchen for cooking or tea making.
Broad Beans Early Long Pod***3132g
Mangelwurzel roots***18955g
Peas Sugar Snap***145g
Strawberries***650g
Eggs
16 From the 5 Farmyard Ferals
16 From the 4 Barnevelders
20 From the 5 Faverolles
The Faverolles and Barnevelders went for day without laying one egg (yes I did search all their favourite hiding places) the next day there was a queue for the nest boxes. These 3 Barnies couldn't wait!
To see how the various Garden areas fit on our half acre block check out the newest Map of our place HERE
The Main Vegetable Garden layout for 2010 can be found HERE