From the Autumn Garden

While being busy with orchard harvests and biodynamic preparations, both making and applying, I’ve also managed to do some maintenance on the perennial gardens raised beds. The main vegetable area has also had a makeover by removing the ‘wild area’ around the edge of the garden. This area had become seriously entangled with kikuyu, couch and comfrey so much so it was starting to invade parts of the garden. It was dug out removing as much of the invading weeds as possible but I know there will be missed bits to be removed for the next few years. I was going to plant a green manure crop but in the end planted onions there- a bit of a mistake and what you get for impatience as now the onions have been swamped by soursobs – oh well a little more weeding required. (It’s a good thing I enjoy weeding)



On the other side of this bed is the pumpkins patch a 10x 9 square metre garden also with kikuyu invading. I’ve now dug this area over removing as much as possible so it’s now ready for the green manure crop of field peas and oats to be sown.
Another project has also begun in an area that was my nursery. As it was used little and propagation can be accommodated in other areas I decided to revamp it as a compost garden as it adjoins the compost area and also where I grow my comfrey, safely fenced off from the geese. So now I will grow a range of plants to use in the compost as well as the biodynamic compost plants and barrel compost.



The vegie garden is providing good daily harvests thanks to regular monthly plantings. A quick wander around to see what’s growing will see beetroot, broccoli, chard, carrots, parsnips, swedes, turnips, lettuce, chicory, celery, miners lettuce, mache, kale, leeks, celeriac black salsify, telephone peas, broad beans, endive, fennel, arugula, cabbage, snow peas, onions, opps almost forgot, the garlic. As well there are some extra special things ‘growing’ in my garden at present. You will find the biodynamic preparations 502,503, 504 and 506 while 500 and 505 are developing down in the valley while in the compost garden you’ll find 3 different barrel composts (also known as ccp or manure concentrate) I’m experimenting with.