Above average rainfall brings...

WEEDS!

Wild lettuce that is way taller than me!

I took advantage of the damp ground and pulled weeds this week.

I had some fans watching my progress.

They waded across the paddock and ate everything I threw over the fence.

I think the wild lettuce is their favourite but they also ate all the other weeds.

If I weed three corner jack plants and throw them over the fence they will eat those as well.

There are very few weeds along the fence line as they clean them up all the time.

The fence is supposed to be electric but there must be a short on the line somewhere. The camels are hard on a fence that has lost it's spark.

Mulch down to try and reduce the weeds in the rows. I am excited by the promise of many Zinnias. 

I wonder if I can get away with pruning my chrysanthemums one more time before waiting for May flowers?

I have room here for a couple more rows.....I have run out of space in this garden but I think I may have run out of strength to clear these weeds............maybe after the next rain.

This is Winston. He is the Grandfather of this herd. A gentle giant, curious, companionable and handsome. The head of the family.

Lewis on the left and Linga on the right. They were very happy about my weeding and patiently waited for me to weed a large pile before I threw them over the fence. Winston does get the lions share but these two did alright.

Now it is too wet!

This has to be a once in a lifetime rain storm. We have recorded 149 ml over the last 24hours and it is still raining. This garden bed was designed to keep flood waters out. Built after the 1992 inundation saw us with 6 sandbags high around the house. The garden was designed to help take the stress out of an extremely high river but it has had the opposite effect with this phenomenal rain event, however there is little chance that the water will get high enough to come in the house. 

There will be no car parking down here for a while. 

The camels and sheep just have to share their paddock with the ducks.

The wet lands are overflowing. Etiwanda Ave is underwater.

I read today that the average rain for February is 19 ml. We are well and truly past that. Lets hope it stops raining soon. I can hardly believe I have said that. The drought has certainly broken.

It's too darned hot!

It's too hot for the garden today, 3rd day over 40 degrees Celcius I thought I would show off some of my pots. There is a bit of theme....This is a working tea pot. The saddle lifts up for filling with tea leaves and hot water. The tea does come out of the camels mouth.

Bookends...If you could read the titles on the books the whole piece would make more sense. "A girls experiment", "Wider horizons", "Nothing ventured"
I have many camel pots, small, medium and large. I must organise a themed exhibition and invite some camel fanciers. I am also very keen on Raku firing. That's where the pots are taken out of the kiln at 1000degrees Celcius and placed in sawdust to complete the firing in an oxygen reduced atmosphere.
All work is then just decorative but ancient looking. This is a silver backed pendant with a rune theme.

That's just a small example of the pottery I do. I have been making things out of clay for about 30 years and I still really enjoy it. Lucky aren't I.

Paper pots

I was given a fantastic product for Christmas. A paper pot press.

It is really easy to use and I was very keen to trial the finished product. As soon as the moon was good for leafy greens I had to plant some seeds, rocket and mizuna and lettuce.

The strike rate was good, the next trial is how they work in the garden.  When I did plant some out, I tore off the excess paper at the bottom of the pots......I planted out some cucumbers but it may have been the 40 degree day that thwarted this trial.......not still there after 3 days.

Note the paper pots near the trellis, empty of cucumbers. I will have to replant and continue to observe.

There's still plenty of plants to choose from in this trial. I have been working on increasing the leafy greens in the circles and I have also been doing a trial in the design and planting of the circles.
Digging out the circle into a donut shape, and planting around the edge, mulching in the hollow.  I will have to save that thought till the next post...might have some positive results by then.

Compost

I do love a good compost heap. I get very excited about making soil and I prepare all my own soil here for my seedlings and advanced plants. My compost heap is very important in this process. I use a simple 3 - 1 recipie, 3 dried material to 1 manure. I use the wheelbarrow as a measure. I very rarely put any weeds in the compost even though I like a hot compost and in theroy all the weed seeds would be destroyed, I do not like to tempt fate. I also always mow the leaves before they go in the compost so they can break down quickly, and I make sure I wet all material as it goes on the heap, this seems to speed up the process also.

 This is Mini Moo. She was hand reared in the backyard and is now a free range, lawn mower. The bonus is she fertilises where she goes, unfortunately she goes in the shed a lot and theres not much need for fertiliser in there.

Food Forrest

When I was weeding the other day, I was excited to find many self sown tomatoes. As I enthusiastically weeded near and around them I realised that the weeds were keeping the soil from splashing on the plants protecting them from wilt. So, I made sure they were heavily mulched after weeding to keep them nice.

My weeding was rewarded, look what I found!

I am using the permaculture system devised by "Linda Woodrow" which is a series of circular gardens which are serviced by a "Chook Dome". It does have it's advantages as the chooks clear and fertilize each garden bed in preparation for planting. There are also difficulties with watering as the plants grow they block the sprinkler, I am learning to work with the circles. My husband becomes frustrated with a garden that he can't easily find the fresh and ready veg. He is also not keen on my habit of letting some veg go to seed. But he was impressed with the tomatoes.

Cos Lettuce flower head. Maybe they will grow themselves next season.

I am always well protected in the garden. Shelia is never far away. One of the first commands she learned was"off the garden". I just have to train the new dog to do the same.