This week it's been raining - something we look forward to at the end of summer when the ground is dry. It's really been raining up north - ridiculously so, and there has been dams overflowing and houses floating down rivers. 1 in a 100 year flood, they say. Weather events are dramatic like that. May they all find dry ground. But here, it's just a pleasant drizzle most of the time - still, too wet to be in the garden, so I've been tidying up the greenhouse.
This necessitated a trip to Bunnings to get some hand tools and a broom, as it's a long walk back to the garden shed when I'm in the polytunnel. I screwed in a few screws for them to hang on.
Zooming out, you can see the big struts we had to put in because we had some really extreme winds at the end of last year which caused the polytunnel to move around so much that it ripped the plastic on the roof and broke the top strut, and made the hoops slide out of place. This was disaster management and we're keeping it lest it happens again. The blanket isn't practical of course, as soft furnishings don't belong in a greenhouse, but it's a temporary measure until we get a bit more greenhouse plastic. The back door was ripped off so we put a new one on, and now the weather is a bit cooler, a blanket is keeping the worst of the night chill out.
I have a heap of wood ready to reinforce it over Easter to stop the irrigation frame sliding sideways. It's amusing to me that the more we add, the less it's really a hoop house as the other wood is holding it together.
I've decided to add the third bed as the others are doing so well. The eggplant are huge - I've never had them grow this big. I've already had some eggplant, but there are little ones forming that I hope might get big enough before it gets too cold. If that doesn't happen, I'm hoping they will overwinter okay to get a head start.
I brought the tulsi and basil pot in from the front of the hothouse and I'm hoping the tulsi will last a few more weeks if not longer. It's come back to life in the warmer climate and with some extra water. I've turned off the automatic watering system now the weather is cooler and have been really enjoying watering by hand.
In the seed trays I have leek, purple spring onions, two sorts of kohl rabi, beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli and two sorts of cabbage. There has been cabbage moths around so I spent a few minutes squishing the caterpillars enjoying the broccoli.
The wicking buckets have been awesome for the chilli and capsicum - much better than the ones in the beds, but this might be because the soil's not quite right yet. It's funny how the big red capsciums (peppers) never grow as big as the supermarket ones - they really must force feed them! I've actually loved the little orange peppers a lot - great in salads, but also bountiful enough to share in pasta sauces, and they've grown a lot faster than the bigger varieties. Definitely keepers. The big black tub behind is full of water. Jamie's theory was that it would heat up during the day, and release heat at night. I have no way of testing this, but it has a double use as I'll stuff comfrey in there to make a comfrey tea that's easy access. Saves trudging up to the garden proper for fertiliser.
I'm not sure how the turmeric is going or even when to pick it, or whether to leave some in the ground for next year. I plan on putting a whole row of big tubs to grow more turmeric in for next next year. It's one of the crops I've been most excited about.
Oh, and I put a little whiteboard in the greenhouse so I can keep track of what I've planted and what I need to get.
It's so lovely in there just listening to some tunes and listening to the rain on the plastic - like a little vacation at the end of the property where I'm firmly in my own 'woman cave' if you like. I'm super excited about what this space might look like next Easter after I've got the hang of this a bit better.
I'll return with an update on the framing progress when the #gardenjournal challenge begins around the 7th of April - hope you are all enjoying the coming of Spring, or you are staying dry and warm.
With Love,