January Week 1...Shadehouse.

A hot week to start the year but we managed to complete and plant up the new Shade house. As always the heat means we are up early in the morning and usually have our jobs completed by lunchtime. Sometimes we can go back out in the evening but this is often just to let the chooks out for a scratch while we water their straw yard down so it is cooler for the next hot day. Of course the silly things choose this hot weather to go broody!  By Wednesday the humidity was rising ahead of what promises to be a significant rain event with thunderstorms.
This clip from Elders Weather Page shows our forecasted rain. We live in hope!
Notes from my garden diary...
Jan 2015
1st Jan 
Temperature Min 14.4C Max  35.7C
Added rest of shade cloth to house Doc made a new door and covered it with shade cloth. Filled beds with rough fill, straw, potting mix, mushroom compost, coir/sheep manure mix and garden soil. Mixed well and watered.

2nd Jan 
Temperature Min 17C Max  39.9C
Attached irrigation (dripper) hose to beds
3rd Jan 
Temperature Min 21.2C Max  40.2C
Moved potting bench from under Carob tree in driveway to behind the shade house.
Plants were sorted, pruned and re-potted.
4th Jan 
Temperature Min 16.2C Max  31.3C 2.4mm Rain
Planted into beds in the shade house Tomatoes , Sweet Basil, Egyptian Spinach, Silverbeet, Spring Onions and Parcel.
Planted Basil seedlings with Tomatoes in outside bed.
5th Jan 
Temperature Min 16.8C Max  34.5C
Potted up native seedlings using a purchased Native Plant Potting mix 

6th Jan 
Temperature Min 21C Max  37.4C
Attached dripper line (15cm spacing) to last bed and sowed Carrots (tape), Radish, Kohl Rabi, and Beetroot seedlings
Tidied garden for impending heavy rain - put away anything that shouldn't get wet
7th Jan 
Temperature Min 22.6C Max  38C Doc's Birthday and our 37th Wedding Anniversary.
Secured items in garden - storms forecast with rain event
New tarp cover to straw pile - the old one ripped in recent wind storms.