"pete" wrote in

OK The stage the rows are at now is just having gone through a summer
and still in dry conditions and mild 20 ish degree days ... I think
today will be 24 with the chance of a shower yippee, of course I've been
hand watering to break down the horse manure, the beds where the manure
has broken down properly (although it's still happening) get watered
only on a weekly basis, by one of those weeper type hoses left on for a
couple of hours or so thats all, the rows that are "fresh" are still
watered daily and quite thoroughly at times depending on the weather and
if I know I'm not going to get back to them till maybe later the
following "maybe" hot day... basically they as much water as they need
to keep em in place against any strong winds and to allow the manure to
break done or compost ... so it depends... could be different each day.

I had a really good experience this year with horse poop and leaves from
exotic trees/weisteria spread on one of my veg beds which has rotten soil.

I have found a fabulous non ending supply of poops already piled and all I
have to do is shovel 'em into the back of my truck. I weeded and watered
this veg bed, threw a load of poops on top and then topped that with a load
of autumn leaves (I did this in about early summer as the leaves had just
lain in a quiet corner doing nuttin all of winter - I knew summer here would
be a stinker so didn't even try to do anything in that particular rotten
bed). It got infrequent watering (prolly about once a month) and I've only
recently scraped the leaves off and dug it over and planted it with all
sorts of veg (bok choi, broccoli, English spinach, silverbeet, 2 types of
lettuce and some space left over for succession plantings of more spinach
which we love). It is full of worms and it's very ahrd to credit the
difference in the quality of the soil.

I think my experiences with this bed and some of the other observations
we've made this summer is the reason why I've been wittering on about shade.
I've written before about my water repellent soil and given how little
watering this bed got (and I know it was water reppellent at some stages as
I checked) and I've used horse poop before (but not in quite the same way)
I'm wondering about he effects of shading the soil with both the poops and
the leaves. The worms just got on with it and could operate in the dark. I
dunno perhaps I'm just ranting, but I do believe that the dark and the mulch
may have been more of a help than I could have ever thought. I was sooooooo
****ed of by this bed (and the rest of the garden in general) and soooooo
****ed off by the sort of summer we had (hot and dry, hot and dry and windy,
hot and dry etc etc etc) that I far less than I normally would have. I had
odd bursts of activity in between severe ****edoffedness attacks but I am
now very impressed with this bed and it is probably better than any others
that I have.

Regarding the trees/shade and wind protection ...you're rushing me,:-)

Sorry, but I have begun to think that it is ratehr important :-))

the last updates on the site gives a little insight into what will
follow the veggies and I found late yesterday a Myoporum insulare
(boobialla) that the birds have planted for me in one of the beds ( at
least it looks like one ..its tiny yet) which couldnt have been planted
in a better spot if I'd done it myself. because of the increased bird
activity I'm getting a lot of seed left around the place but this is the
first native and the first perennial plant thats popped up ...

Congrats! Always a thrill I find when volunteer platns appear.

( snip of future plans description.)

Chooks will eventually be incorporated into the area too, and also a
meat rabbit breeding house, but the rabbits are a long way down the
track, the chooks will be introduced much earlier in the piece.

Waht about moving both of those plans up a bit? They could certainly help
in your soil improvement plans given that both need to be fed but all output
goes back to the soil. (And realistically they are both more productive
than horses but don't tell your missus I said that :-))

ok now ya spoiled me secret plan
I wanted ya to keep saying gosh and golly and wow and stuff.... now
yas'll all say "ha that bit didn't work did it?" .......

Well I have lots of "didnt' work" bits round here, but if ya dont' do, ya
dont' know do you?

I actually have prickly pear plant just to the north of this patch and
on a rise of about half a metre ... I've never had fruit off of it and
it just sits there not dying but not growing either, I've eaten the
fruit off other plants and it's not too bad...sort of sweet but not..
almost like a strawberry but yet not ... worth trying though I reckon
they would make some sort of jam or even a savoury sauce like a
cranberry sauce or used as a poultry glaze.... dunno but worth messing
with.

I've got a recipe for prickly pear jam somewhere................

Weve stolen Quandongs from next door but they have nearly always got a
bug inside em by the time we get em, so apart from a quick bite and spit
out we've not had any joy wiv em, I've tasted Quandong jam and thats
really nice.

I love quandongs. I think they are one of the most superb fruits - just
wish I could get a plant or 10. I also love quinces which many people dont'
like at all.

ok have I answered everything? .... prolly not but I gotta go try to get
a pic of this little Myoporum ...

Great.