Simon's Cat 'Fly Guy'

Trying a few things myself

 I've had so many people give me so many suggestions on what to do and what not to do for growing a happy healthy, and bountiful potato crop without any what I'd call amazing success. That in order to get some  happy healthy, and bountifully good potatoes I've decided to try a few things for myself and see how they work out.

The first of these was the placing of the seed potatoes on a layer of comfrey in the bottom of my potato trenches (you can read all about it here).

The second step is to hill them up with a stable manure and soil mix. I'm really keen on stable manure and one day I summon up a post to show you why.

Then I tipped out a bag of fresh stable next to where I planted the spuds so it could age while the tatties were coming up and then when the tatties were high enough I spread the mix around the base of the tatties in order to hill them.

Since then they have received 48mls of rain in a storm and are positively jumping out of the ground.

Close up here on the left shows a healthy potato plant that has only received the comfrey treatment.

 After the hilling. A side benefit of having the stable manure, beside the potatoes, to age is that any nutrient that might have leached out into the soil will be available to next crop I decide to plant there.

Also with the comfrey under the potatoes and the horse manure and straw on top when it comes time to harvest the potatoes there is going to be some very rich organic soil there ready for planting.

So far I am happy with the choices I have made and their growth so far and now  the only thing left for my potatoes is to keep up the straw mulch and a fortnightly application of fish emulsion and wait to see what size crop I get from them.


Cheers for now

Stewart.

Bloody grubs #3

 Remember that caterpillar riddled (I think I got at least 50 caterpillars from it) savoy cabbage I posted about (see Bloody grubs #1 and Bloody grubs #2) a few weeks ago. Well after some persistence at pulling the little buggers off the plant and a garlic and chilli brew/spray recommended by a good facebook friend it looks like it's coming good.

I'll tell you I'm bloody sure every cabbage moth for a hundred miles around must have laid it eggs on my Savoy cabbage.

Here it is photographed just this morning.

Oh and the chilli and garlic recipe. Pretty simple really.
I just blended two really hot chillies, a teaspoon of garlic in a cup of water. Let it sit over night, strain and add a few drops of dish washing liquid. Make it up to about 250mls of liquid, bung it in a spray bottle and away you go.
You'll need spray all the plant and both sides of the leaves and to keep applying it after rain or watering but for me, so far so good.


I might get to enjoy my savoy cabbage yet and even more so knowing all the effort I've put into it thus far.

Cheers and how's your Easter going so far?

Stewart.

Planted just ten days ago

 It's an overcast day here today with intermittent light drizzle and hardly a breeze to speak of. But the temperature is still high enough to make it a comfortable, if not slightly uninviting, day to go outside and work the veggie garden.

Having said that I still needed to go and feed the chooks and collect my one egg a day I've been getting lately (that's five chooks, one egg a day, equals four freeloaders or look at it another way. It costs me about two dollars to feed them their layer mash so I make that about two dollars per egg at the moment). So while I was out I went around and checked for any action on the seeds I've planted front and I'm pleased to announce to you the arrival (emergence) of my Hunter River Brown onions.

Planted just ten days ago and I have little baby onions popping up everywhere. There is a lot to be said for using fresh seeds.

A lot of veggies, especially slow growing veggies, don't like a lot of nitrogen in the soil so I prepared their bed by digging through some compost and aged stable horse manure, leaving out the blood and bone I usually apply as well, and boy don't the worms love this. That's about it for preparation. I planted the seeds as directed on the packet and kept the soil moist.

As they grow I'll apply fish emulsion and seaweed extract and mulch with more stable manure. Keep them moist and when the tops start to wither and brown off I'll know I'm nearly there and fresh onions are just a few weeks away.

Cheers and hoo roo

Stewart

Oh Chocolate egg

Q. Have you noticed how there is a song (popular, mainstream) for almost every thing going around but none for Easter?
Like Rudolf the big eared Easter bunny or Easter Bunny's coming to town etc... or where'd they get all the chocolate from to make all them eggs... or Oh Chocolate egg, oh chocolate egg thy wrapping looks so inviting....


This is the kind off eggs we grew up loving as kids but it seems the chocolate egg has won out over the sugar eggs.
They were hard too, I was always of breaking a tooth trying to get into them.

Cheers and happy Easter

Steweart

What can I say?

Well well well what can I say? As you can see from the forecast below it going to turn wet wet wet, again. So to make to most out of an ordinary situation today has moved from a weeding to a seed planting day.

I'm thinking beetroot, carrots and another round of brassicas including  broccoli, savoy cabbage and cauliflower. 





Queensland State Forecast

IDQ10700

Issued at 4:50 am EST on Thursday 14 April 2011


Forecast for Friday An upper level trough is expected to move across southern Queensland. An associated surface trough will move east and lie from the northwest to the southern interior. Cloudy with areas of thundery rain spreading across the interior south of about Longreach, reaching the Darling Downs (that's us or me if you like) and Granite Belt in the afternoon and evening. Isolated afternoon and evening showers developing during the day between the Great Dividing Range and the coast south of about St. Lawrence. Isolated showers and thunderstorms over northern Cape York Peninsula. Day time temperatures below average over the southern interior due to cloud. Light to moderate SE to NE winds east of the trough, moderate to fresh S to SW winds west of the trough.

Forecast for Saturday The surface trough should move east a little over the central and southern interior. The upper trough will move east produce thundery rain areas over the southeastern quarter of the state. Isolated showers and thunderstorms over the Central Highlands district, and isolated showers about much of the tropical coast and interior east of the surface trough. Continuing unstable over northern Cape York Peninsula with isolated showers and thunderstorms. Below average day time temperatures over the central and southern interior.

Forecast for Sunday The upper level trough will strengthen over the southern and central Queensland interior, and the surface trough will drift westwards back to the central parts of the state. Showers and thunderstorms over the central, southern and southeast interior east of the surface trough, tending to thundery rain areas during the day. Showers increasing over the remaining eastern districts as winds along the east coast develop a more onshore direction. Continuing unstable over northern Cape York Peninsula with Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Below average maxima over the southern interior.

Cheers and beers

Stewart.