Cropping

Cropped 150 g courgettes

Weeding

Pulled out some weeds from below the pool, cut some of the more intrusive bamboo and took down a large tobacco weed.
The hot humid weather has changed today, and we are in a southerly airstream.

Rain at last

After a very dry month we have had about 1cm rain, but the ground is still very dry once you dig 3 or 4 cm down.

Planted out 8 tomatoes to replace one set of snow peas, which I have cut down. I have left the second row because they are still cropping, just.
Planted out 2 melons.
Planted out 6 capsicums by the tomatoes below the herb bed.

Cropped 100 g snow peas.
Cropped one 50 g courgette.

Cropping

Cropped 200 g courgettes.
Cropped a meal of silverbeet.

Cropping

Cropped 75g snow peas.

Cropping

Cropped 75g snow peas.

Casualties

After a month of drought, it looks as if the luecospernum that I heeled in is dying, the lime tree looks very dry and the snow peas are yellowing and look as if they will be dry within the month.

Planting out, cleaning up

Pruned lower branches from Camellia and one lower branch from fig where we walk to the lower lawn.
Planted out salvia and marigolds in the bed by the middle lawn.
Weeded the vege bed, herb bed.
Pulled Tradescantia fluminensis from bed by woodpile. There is a lot in the bed below the pool, but there are nesting blackbirds there so I am reluctant to pull it yet.

Harvesting

Cropped 200g snow peas.

Cropped silver beet - enough for a meal.
Four more tomatoes (Money maker) planted in the bed below the herb bed.

Cropping

200 g snow peas cropped.

Leucospernum

Removed the leucospernum from the fence line and heeled in by the hedge in the bed behind the veg bed.

Fence replacement

Cut roses by fence.

Moving plants

Removed agapanthus from old fence.
Weeded bed by middle lawn ready for bedding plants to go in.
Pulled worst of the vinca from the canna bed by lower lawn. Planted out 4 tomatoes in bed below herb bed.

Cropping

Cropped 50 g snowpeas.
Cropped a handful of silver beet and some marjoram.

Cropping

Cropped 75 g snow peas.

Cleaning the weeds

Cleaned the weeds below the herb bed, sprayed the bed to get rid of any stragglers.
Took an agapanthus from the roadside side of the fence, sprayed the bed again.
Cut back bamboo sprouting out of the roadside bed.

Cropping

Cropped 75g snow peas.

Cropped silver beet during the week.

Mulching

Mulched the cut down branches of the tree next to the mail box, spread the chippings on the bed below the grapefruit.

Sprayed the paths with roundup.

Planting out and Cropping

Cropped 120g Snow Peas

Dug in the sheep pellets in the vegetable beds.

Planted out 3 artichokes and the raspberry canes we were given.
Pottted up 12 moneymaker tomatoes from the 8/10/10 sowing.

Pruned the tree at the front of the house next to the mail box hard.

More weeding

Dug out flax by fence.
The marigold sowing has been dug up by cats or possums, but I suspect cats.

Mowing, pruning and weeding

Mow top and bottom lawns. Composted top lawn in compost bin, but used clipping from lower lawn to mulch the cannas by the lower lawn.
Pruned the thorned bush at the front of the house and mulched clippings with mowings from the top lawn.
Beds by fence weeded further along.

Cropping

Cropped 25 g Snow Peas

Weeding

Weeded along fence and sprayed with glysophate.

Pruning, transplanting, sowing and layering

Pruned the hibiscus by the garage.
Transplanted 4 butternut squash from modules to 10 cm pots.
Sown one seedtray marigolds.
Layered the winter mint.

Planting out

Cleaned bed by middle lawn and planted out 6 perlagonium, 1 seedtray cosmos, 1/2 seedtray red salvia, 1/2 seedtray lobelia.
Planted out 1 tray marigolds around the vege patch.
Moved some gazenia from in front of the fence to the prepared bed by the blue furniture.
Cut down some of the kawakawa and larger weeds near the pool.
Thinned out weeds in lower canna bed, but it will need spraying. I will need to mulch it to keep the weeds down.
Potted on 6 tomato plants.
Sown two 8cm pots coriander.

Sowing, planting

Transplanted the original curry plant from 8cm to 10 cm pot.
Transplanted rocket from small tray to 10 cm pot.
Planted 6 capsicum (Californian Wonder), 6 chilli (Little Red Cayenne) and 6 Cos into modules.

Planting

Planted out one zucchini with the others, coriander and oregano in the herb area.

Cleaned the small bed by the blue chairs, removing bulbs to replace in new composted soil. I will move some gazenias from the fence by the road to fill the bed later this week.

Strimmed the path by the bamboo and the grass by the pool.

Sowing, tending

Sown two 8cm pots of Basil.
Sown one six-module of cos.

Snow peas are beginning to fruit.

Pruned back the pots of mint, the sage and marjoram.

Put compost around the garlic, which have put on a spurt.

Weed control

Sprayed the artificial grass and path to the bamboo with glysophate.

Sowing

Sown one seed tray of Cosmos.

Made one long wire frame for protecting crops.

Planting herbs out

Two pots of coriander, one curry plant planted out into the brick surround of the vege patch.
Two cavities sown with chives.

Sowing and planting out

Turned the compost and mulched the bed under the grapefruit and maple.
Four zucchini planted out in the vege bed.
Sown 12 modules of Money Maker tomatoes, 12 of Californian Delight capsicum. Two 8cm pots of rocket.
Built 2 seedtrays.

The waratah is flowering and looking good.
The paths need spraying, and some need strimming to access properly.

Snowpeas are beginning to flower.

Rocket planted a month ago has dried out today and so needed rescuing. Ron's capsicums have not sprouted, so I have disposed of them. The butternut squash in the garage have sprouted and I have moved them to the cold frame.

Marigolds are beginning th flower and need planting out.

Tomato sowing

Six money maker tomatoes sown in modules.

Weeded the vege patch.

Only one row of onions have survived the winter, so replaced the missing rows with the remainder of the onions in the modules - 12 onions in all.

Planted out the marjoram divisions and two coriander plants from 10 cm pots from earlier this year and weeded the herb bed.

Took some weeds out of the middle lawn.

Wisteria is flowering and looks good along the boundary.

Transplanted tomatoes into 10 cm pots - six from modules.

Mowing, weeding

Mowed middle lawn.
Pulled some of the weeds from the lower beds. All the beds need a good weeding.

The Waratah  is preparing to flower.

Some Sunday jobs

Strimmed the edges of the top lawn, mowed afterwards.
The snow peas are growing past the string supports, so added extra height to the supports.
Four courgettes moved to cold frame.

Cat and insect damage

One seedtray of red salvia has been dug up by a cat.
I have had to spray the seedlings in the coldframe with Confidor after an insect attack. I have not been able to find the insects.
Planted a seedtray of Money Maker tomatoes.

Despite some strong gusts overnight and squally showers today, we have had some long sunny spells and suffered little damage.

Weather and watering

The weather has been warm and sunny for much of the week, so I watered the cold frame and plastic mini greenhouse plants. There are storms forecast for this weekend.

More cleaning up

Weeded the bed below the grapefruit tree of vinca nad pulled it back from the boundary.
Bit of weeding by the flax by the lower lawn.
Cut back the cardinal flowers by the alstroemeria bed to let light in and ready to extend the waste bed there, so compost can be laid on it and it can be used for planting.
Cut back hydrangea below the kanuka and stacked waste on the waste heap below the kanuka.

Weather this week has been mild mostly and wet, but the dry spell this afternoon has been welcome.

Cleaning up

Weeded between the ornamental grasses on the drive, cleaned oxalis from below the wisteria.

Watered the marigolds, marjoram, mint with seaweed solution.

Planting out and potting up

Planted out 9 snow peas to replace losses.
Potted up 6 zucchini into 10cm pots.

Mowing and compost

Mowed the middle and lower lawn, now we have had 24 hours without rain.
Turned the compost and added lawn mowings and part composted chipped garden waste to it to give it a bit of get up and go.
The mowings from the lower lawn have been stacked where I moved stumps away for firewood last winter.

More seed sowing - salvia and cosmos

Put together another seedtray, repaired an old seedtray.
Sown one seedtray of red salvia.
Sown one seedtray of cosmos.

The weather has been wet for much of the week, with warm air until Friday.

Sowing

Sown one seedtray white cosmos.

Melons beginning to show.

Sowing and planting out

Seived compost to third bin.

Built two deep seed trays.

Sown two trays of red salvia Blade of Fire dwarf.
Sown one 6-module large sweet chilli (seed obtained from Ron).
Sown one 6-module butternut squash.
Sown one 6-module capsicum.
Sown one 6-module tomato "money maker".
Sown two small plastic trays rocket.

Thinned out lobelia. They are still very small, less than 2 cm leaf to root tip.
Planted out 12 snow peas along the back wire fence.
Repotted two butternut squash from a small pot to two 10 cm pots.

Sowing and potting

Six courgette seeds sown in modules.
Potted out coriander - eight 8 cm pots containing 2 or 3 seedlings each.

To do

Sow more red salvia.
Sow cosmos.
Buy courgette seed and sow soon.
Pot on the coriander, now over 3 cm tall.
Thin out lobelia into either modules or another seedtray.
Build more seedtrays.
Mow lawns and rake up camellia heads.
Prune ornamental yellow bush by the deck.
Weed beds along top lawn and sow allysum.
Weed beds from middle lawn to bottom lawn.
Weed beds from bottom lawn going down to the stream.
Prune trees by log pile and front garden and shred waste.
Seive and turn compost bins.
Sow more tomato plants when the last sowing begins to show.
Repair step by side of pool.

Weeding and sowing

Sowed seven butternut squash in modules and 5cm pot.
Planted seedtray of red salvia.
The seedtray of lobelia are showing. The sowing is quite dense, so some thinning will be required soon.
Hoed weeds behind the vege patch and under the grapefruit. Sprayed the remainder with Roundup.
Weeded the hellebores in the front. They are doing well. Calendula bed weeded, and the calendula are flowering. The calendula in the front bed will flower soon.
The hibiscus in the front by the hedge are not doing well. There is one with some leaves and one with no leaves but a shoot at the tip. The other two are dead.
Sprayed the oranges with Copper Oxychloride.

Vegetables mostly

Planted out two more snowpeas to replace lost peas.
Planted out onions next to garlic.
Sprinkled growmore on the garlic. The supermarket garlic has not sprouted at all.
Weeded the vege patch.

Its been a wet week with 20mm rain on Friday.

Jobs for the Weekend

If the weekend is dry:
Weed the ornamental grasses and sow alyssum. Rake the middle lawn as the weed and feed has killed much of the moss and it needs removing.
Check the second stage compost bin to see if the comost needs turning or can go into the third stage bin, which is almost empty.
Rake up the camellia blossom that has fallen.
Plant out any remaining pea seedlings.
Plant out onions. Its a bit late, but better late than never.

If the weekend is wet:
Build more seedtrays.
Sow some of the summer veg - tomatoes, courgettes, squash, melon, chilli and capsicum can all be started. Plant another module of coriander for succession.
Sprinkle Growmore on the garlic, feed the gardenia while there is rain to water it in.

Sowing Lobelia, Salvia

Sowed half a seedtray of lobelia, half of salvia.
The salvia seed was cropped from last year's flowers.

Building a coldframe

The lobelia sown last weekend are beginning to show. Coriander is sprouting nicely now.

Finished building a coldframe, 120cm x 90cm x 70cm. I made the mistake of building the front and back first, then attached the sides. It would be better to do the sides first as they are more complex. A flat at the top allows the lid to be easily hinged.

Moved the marigold seedlings and some other into the frame to make space in the garage.

Frost

We had frost yesterday and today. Not a hard frost, but frost all the same. It seems to have done no damage.

Sowing lobelia

Sowed one large seedtray of lobelia. Its a fiddly little seed.
Pricked out a dozen onion seedlings, which are beginning to show.
Cut back the parsley, which is beginning to bolt.
Took three divisions off the marjoram.

Lawn maintenance

Mowed the middle lawn. Its very mossy so I spread Weed and Feed on it to be rained in over the weekend.
Put together a small seedtray 30cm x 20 cm.

Sowing coriander

Planted one six-module of coriander - 14 seeds in all.

Its been two days of heavy rain, but warm, about 16 degrees. The marigolds sown last weekend are already germinating in the garage.

Wisteria

Wisteria was pruned to 3 buds on each spur.

Mostly sowing

Showery but mild day today.

Planted another seed tray of marigolds.
Planted two 8 cm pots of butternut squash, two seeds in each.
Planted two 8 cm pots of canteloup melon, two seeds in each.
Planted out 10 snow pea seedlings, now about 10cm to 15 cm tall at the end of the middle veg bed.

The two trays of marigolds sown last weekend are showing. The onions are not.

Built two new seed trays.

Planting Marigolds

Planted another seed tray of marigolds.

Composting, sowing

Shredded the banksia and tree prunings from yesterday. Some of this is mixed with lawn clippings and added to the compost bins, but most has gone into the mulching heap.
Mowed the middle lawn.
Sowed two seedtrays of french marigolds.

Pruning, potting on and sowing

Gave the remainder of the Carex buchananii ornamental grasses a trim. The clippings have gone on the compost heap.
Weeded out a lot of yellow oxalis from the beds around the middle lawn and vege beds.
Pruned the tree at the front back by taking out crossing branches in the centre, cutting back new growth to about 3 buds and taking out two branches leaning on the fence.
Pruned the banksia behind the fence by about one third, taking heavy growth off the top.
Sowed a seedtray of Californian early red onion seed and 2 six-modules of cos lettuce.
Potted on 12 snowpeas from six-modules into 10 cm square pots. The snowpeas in the garage have grown good roots and are about 30mm above soil level. The seedtray outside has the snowpeas just showing.
The garlic planted at the start of June is showing good shoots. These cloves were taken from last years crop. The garlic planted at the end of June from shop bought garlic has not shown yet.

A very mild day, max temp 17 degrees, but warmer in the sun.

Mowing, chopping

Mowed the top lawn and raked some of the moss out. There is a lot of moss developing on all the lawns at the moment, after the wet weather of the past two or three weeks.
Cut some wood for next years supply. It also needs stacking as the large old trunks are getting very wet. Must remember to sharpen the chain on the chain saw.

Compost, cleaning and cutting back

Turned compost, took some semi-matured out to mulch the easternmost vege patch, which contains two blueberry bushes.
Raked up wisteria leaves.
Cut back two ornamental grasses.
Took old flower stalks off the sedum close to the garage. They are multiplying well after thefirst year.

Took old leaves of the budding hellebores to display the flowers to full effect. They look quite bare now.

Constructed another seed tray.
Sowed 36 sweet pea seeds in modules, placed in cold frame.

Pruning ornamental grasses

The grasses Carex buchananii, Carex Solandri and Festuca banks peninsula blue along the drive are looking straggly and have lost their symmetry. There are a lot of dead stalks. There are weeds growing among the clumps and now its winter, its time to do some tidying up.

The clumps of Carex buchananii are given a rough cut with shears first, then tidied using secateurs.

August planting

Plant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, silverbeet seedlings, french marigold, sage as companion plants. French marigolds repel nematodes, whitefly, cabbage whites and can be dug in when dead. Sage encourages bees and repels carrot fly and cabbage moth.
Sow tomatoes, capsicum, melon and cucumber mid-month.

Frosty morning

Frosty morning today, after two previous mornings with mist in the valley.

Jobs for the Weekend

Cut more logs.
Repair steps by the side of the pool.
Weed out wild cherry seedlings.
Weed the bed at the side of the pool.
Rake up wisteria leaves and mow top lawn.
Turn compost.
If its raining, weed and feed the middle lawn.
Sow delphinium, salvia, sweet pea, lettuce seed indoors.

Mulch

Collected 180l wood chippings for mulching paths.

Sowing snow peas

Sowed snow peas.
12x 10cm pots filled with garden compost each with one snow pea seed placed outside.
5x 6 cell modules filled with garden compostbwith one snow pea seed in each cell placed in the garage bench.

Pruning, mulching, repotting, weeding.

Its been a pleasant day with plenty of sun and a max of 15 degrees, and no wind.

Broke up a pallet board for kindling, but some planks were suitable for a new seed tray 30cm x 40cm, so cut them to size ready to put together.
Repotted the hellebores into 2l pots, and the helleborus foetidis from a 2l pot into a trough by the rumpus room.
Sprinkled some growmore on the garlic, which are beginning to sprout.
Mowed the lower lawn and mulched the salt bush and hydrangea clippings from last week and week before last with the mower. Clippings put on the composting waste by the woodpile at the end of the lower lawn.
The pool pump is still leaking and so switched off to give me time to look at the problem.
Pruned hydrangea by alstroemeria.
Brought up some more branches that fell from the pine last spring ready to cut into logs.
Cut down some tobacco weed and treated the stalks with woody weedkiller.

Grey leafed plants

Lavender: Appreciates neutral pH. Regular trimming to encourage fresh growth. Grow readily from cuttings.
Catmint: Grow from seed. Grows in soft mounds.
Agave attenuata: Propogate from stem cuttings. Grow in raised bed or pot.
Bearded iris: Upright sword shaped leaves. Bloom in spring. Split up clumps after flowering. Make sure the top of the swollen roots are exposed to sunlight.
Globe artichokes: Spiky leaved plants., purple blooms. Eat blooms at bud stage.
Echium candicans: Purple blue flower spikes, attract bees. Blossom in spring. Remove spent flowers to prevent seeding.

Plans for the Weekend

Mow the lower lawn and mulch the salt bush clippings and hydrangea clippings still on the lawn.
Weed and feed the grass. Mitre 10 has a GST free weekend this weekend so this is a good time to buy some weed and feed.
Repot small hellebores into larger pots.
Sow some peas if I have any seed. I'm not sure if its worth buying seed.
Chop some wood.
Weed the bed to the north of the pool and mark the position of the hostas.
Clean the pool and replace the pool pump.
Repair steps to the North of the pool.

Preparing Seed Trays

Repaired one seed tray that had come apart at one side - a simple job of screwing it back.
Constructed two more trays from old pallet boards, glued and nailed, one sized to suit the boards, the other 30x40 cm to fit 12 10x10 cm flower pots.

Pruning by the lower lawn

Cut a large branch away that overhung the lower lawn on the north side, took out a kawakawa that was growing in a flower bed and cut back the saltbush by the lower lawn camelias to about half size. Shredded the branch, kawakawa and some of the saltbush for mulch heap. Left the rest of the saltbush to be shredded by the mower when I mow there again.

Sowing Marigolds

The Marigolds sown last week are beginning to show, so I sowed another seed box of marigolds today.
The onions are not showing any signs of germination yet.