Preparing for Spring 2020

[louise]

Hi Growers, 

 

I've decided it's time to get into preparing my victory garden. The garden has been derelict for a couple of years as my time was taken up surviving lung cancer and caring for my geriatric pooch with breast cancer. The pooch has passed on now and I need to develop a new focus or fall into a heap on the floor from despair. 

 

So, I went seed shopping and bought a few things I have always wanted to grow. 

 

Linum Usitatissimum (flax) for both the seed and the fibre... I doubt I'll be weaving linen, but there is a rigid heddle loom in the 'supply' room if I get the urge. Twin purpose, flaxseed for the diet and stalks for paper making... I do like to paint on handmade paper.

 

Gossypium herbaceum (cotton), again for papermaking primarily, but there is a spinning wheel (as well as a couple of looms) in the 'supply' room. I have also ordered some high bush blueberries from a local farm... might as well get some that do well with the area's hot dry summers and frosty winters. 

 

That's it for now, anyone else have new garden plans for the coming Spring?

 

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Hey Lou,

 

Will be interesting to see you grow those varieties. I think this year I will try and start some veggie seeds mainly toms and cucumbers indoors under CFL with my canna plants give them a nice start to the season. In terms of variety I think I am just going to go with the same varieties that do well in my area. Loving the mortgage lifter heirloom tomatoes.

[Try Blu]

Ups and downs Louise. Wins and losses. Life is a funny thing at times. 
 

Courageous. To pick yourself up. Hobbies and keeping active is a great way to live.

Music is another good one.

 

My native soil is on the acidic side. In the low 5’s. Probably good for your blueberries. 
 

Here is a giggle. Berries and music....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E07s5ZYygMg

 

 

Enjoy the garden and the arts and crafts. 
 

 

 

[louise]

Hey Lou,

 

Will be interesting to see you grow those varieties. I think this year I will try and start some veggie seeds mainly toms and cucumbers indoors under CFL with my canna plants give them a nice start to the season. In terms of variety I think I am just going to go with the same varieties that do well in my area. Loving the mortgage lifter heirloom tomatoes.

 

Last week I was dusting off the propagator to get a few things started... and then it snowed, so I have decided to leave it until September gets here. I do have some greens (spinach, bok choi and rocket) in the veggie garden but they are just feeding the slugs. I don't want to lay pellets as the parkland behind me has regenerated to the point that I have a large number of kookaburras, currawongs, galahs and wonga pigeons visiting the garden. 

 

Last weekend, 20 miles from here https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=996650300777335

 

Ups and downs Louise. Wins and losses. Life is a funny thing at times. 

 

Courageous. To pick yourself up. Hobbies and keeping active is a great way to live.

Music is another good one.

 

My native soil is on the acidic side. In the low 5’s. Probably good for your blueberries. 

 

Here is a giggle. Berries and music....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E07s5ZYygMg

 

 

Enjoy the garden and the arts and crafts. 

 

 

What doesn't kill me Blu, just makes me stranger.

 

I knit, sew, beat metal, paint, garden and when the weather is good I melt glass rods in a torch and make pretty beads. I gave up working for a living more than a decade ago, so I have had plenty of time to explore different hobbies. 

 

Mostly, my soil is on the sweeter side, but the berries are going into an area that used to have conifers and it's too acidic for much else to thrive. I have my fingers crossed that La Nina eventuates and I get a cooler and wetter summer than last year. 

[itchybromusic]

good luck with the garden Lu 

love the idea of using trap crops doubling as living mulch as well i guess 

[louise]

good luck with the garden Lu 

love the idea of using trap crops doubling as living mulch as well i guess 

 

Thanks Itchy, the trap crops weren't on purpose... just a symptom of a very over grown back yard. Some of the weeds out there are near as tall as me. I thought I had someone lined up to slash down the grass and weeds down so I could get it back under control, but they seem to have vanished. I still have treatment related CFS and RA, so my ability for hard physical labour is seriously reduced. Oh well, little bit by little bit... I am still happy that the treatment was successful and I am alive to see this clusterfuck of a year. 

 

I hope you are well.

[itchybromusic]

dealing with the aftermath can't be fun & at the same time

as you say nice to still be hear to deal with it

 

2020 will not go down as a Stella vintage year , could consider it one of

the more eye opening years maybe = toilet roll hoarding WTF was up with that

 

sorry i don't live in your neck of the woods cos i'd be happy

to be a volunteer to help with your backyard clean up 

 

i'm going alright but it has been a tough year 

 

look forward to your garden up dates & hope you find

another slasher man , oops that should be slasher person

 

all the best Lu  

[louise]

As it turns out Itchy, I found a new slasher person today. I have new neighbours (oh and they are quite an improvement on the last few), one of which doesn't have work atm and so they are going to slash through the weeds for me with their big, powerful petrol guzzler. 

 

I bought an electric mower when I put the solar on the roof and it does fine for most circumstances, but 3-4ft weeds do drain the batteries pretty quickly.

 

I've got a couple of Birdies raised beds coming for the back patio. There are cutouts in the concrete where a previous tenant had some sort of plants, not much good for me these days, but they will make great drainage once I drop the 60cmx60cmx80cm steel beds over the top. It's east facing, so morning sun and arvo shade... perfect for growing my lettuces and other greens that don't want too much sun exposure. 

 

The hoarding... well, I'd argue there wasn't that much actual hoarding. Ok, sure there were a few arseholes buying up hand sanitiser and other essentials because they thought to profit from a shortage, but for the most part I think the shortages were due to people doing what the government told them to do. That is, buy an extra couple of weeks worth of staples to see them through a potential mandatory quarantine. 

 

Supermarket supply chains work on the 'just in time' inventory model, so there wasn't the inventory to restock when everyone bought extra. And then again, as people saw things disappear from the shelves, what restocking could occur was quickly bought up as people began to fear missing out on essentials.

 

Modern inventory management plus human behaviour.

 

I'm still pissed that chickpeas, lentils and dried beans disappeared... I actually had to go back to eating meat for a few weeks because I couldn't buy my usual proteins. And not just my own inconvenience, I am pissed that a lot of that food will be wasted as most people (around here that is) don't know to cook from dried beans and pulses. Wasted or they will be eating a lot of crap dinners.

 

I should have some photos to post soon... if I am brave, I might even post a couple of before and afters of the backyard. 

 

Cheers, Itchy.