The Perks of Being a Lazy Composter

Every green person knows that compost is awesome. It's beautiful and dark and crumbly and.....well..... earthy. It's pretty much the best stuff for the garden; it nourishes and conditions the soil, it feeds the plants and it puts to good use waste that would normally be taken to landfill.
Good compost has a nice carbon-nitrogen balance, keeping the bacteria and microorganisms that break it all down happy and working hard. Good compost gets nice and hot; hot enough to kill weed seeds and some plant pathogens. And when it's all finished, good compost smells sweet and moist.
It's not hard to make good compost. But it requires a bit effort. It requires having certain ingredients available to you. And, most frustrating of all, it requires time. Those of you who know me know that patience and I don't get together too often ;) I want results and I want them now! 

So I build a pile in the usual way; a bit of this a bit of that. We have guinea pigs and a rabbit and their manure keeps up the nitrogen content, along with horse manure (Indi goes horse riding once a week) and we've just acquired some pigeons, so that mess gets chucked in too. I usually give the guineas some pea straw or sugar cane mulch for bedding, so that gets chucked in when it's spent, adding a bit of carbon to the equation. Add the odd newspaper, clumps of seaweed, vacuum cleaner stuff, occasional grass clippings and weeds pulled up from the garden ... etc etc.

Then I leave it. It starts to warm up a bit, and I might even turn it once if I'm feeling energetic. After about 4 weeks it usually settles and shrinks to about two thirds of the size. This is the point where I should probably turn it and allow it to heat back up and finish the job. Alas, this is the point where I decide it's DONE and start shovelling it onto the garden as mulch. The way I see it, half-cooked compost has multiple benefits (besides me not having to wait another month or two):

More soil critters: spreading compost over the garden at this stage brings the worms up for the feast. Worms coming up from the deep ground aerate and loosen the soil, help to munch down the organic matter and then poop it all out, leaving wonderful rich castings. Especially useful when starting a new garden; the busy little soil critters do the hard work of breaking up the ground for me :)

Heat: Because it's still working, breaking down, heat is being generated. I find this especially beneficial when planting out before the ground has really warmed up, as it helps to spur my seedlings on.

Volunteers: By far my most favourite side effect! Plants popping up here there and everywhere from seeds that haven't broken down in the composting process ...

A cucumber wandering its way around the dwarf beans

A beautiful avocado seedling, one of 9 that have sprouted so far! 

A delight to my eyes ... a tangle of of volunteer pumpkins and tomatoes growing among the corn. 

I may not have neat piles of deep, dark, rich humus waiting to spread over my garden, but I do have lots of warm soil, lots of life within the ground and best of all, lots of healthy plants. 

Powdery Mildew

I've not had much luck with zucchinis this year. Snails and slugs devoured the first, second and third lot I planted, and now that I've finally got a few going (in a different garden that the snails obviously didn't smell out), they've been hit with powdery mildew.

Powdery mildew shows up every year on all the cucurbits, but it never seems to get out of control or weaken the plants too much, so I've never bothered doing anything about it. This year though the zukes have really taken a hit. They took off quickly, growing strongly and producing lots of fruit but then went downhill just as fast. Even the leaf stems were covered.

A quick visit to Dr Google came up with this basic spray; a tablespoon of bi-carb soda, a tablespoon of oil and a few drops of washing up liquid all mixed up in a litre of water. It seems to have done the trick. I sprayed them weekly for three weeks and I think I've beat it, or at least got it under control. Although they look a bit bare where I've pulled off all the damaged leaves the new growth seems unaffected and there are lots of new shoots ...

... Hopefully to be followed by lots of yummy zukes :)

Tiny Winged Creatures ...

Or at least they will be in a few more weeks :)

Check them out, destroying a lime tree

These fantastic little creatures are Papilio aegeus, caterpillars of the Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly. We discovered them on a lime tree that's been sitting out the front for months (I sort of forgot to plant it and it got shoved into the corner behind some other pots).
The one on the right in the top photo has just begun to pupate. Apparently they take anywhere from one to six months to emerge, so you'll have to wait a bit longer for those pictures!
We remodelled Indi's butterfly enclosure to contain them, which we made from a camping mosquito net.

Notice the lack of leaves on the poor old lime tree LOL!
This butterfly house has been loads of fun for us this summer. Mostly we've just hatched cabbage white butterflies because there are so many of the hungry little buggers hanging around the cabbages!

Indi also made this little booklet about the life cycle of the butterfly

She has also added words like 'pupae' and 'proboscis' to her vocabulary :)
If you want to see a picture of these butterflies, this website here is excellent. We use it all the time to identify creepers that we find about the garden.

Summer Harvest: Purple Basil

Soon to be married to the aforementioned tomatoes ;)

I haven't had much luck with basil this year. It seemed that the garden was something of a 'real estate heaven' for bugs in the early summer, so anything that I planted was quickly demolished by the hungry little blighters. I finally managed to get a few plants going in a pot out the front door. It's strange, because basil normally grows like a weed for me. Indi and I planted some more mixed seeds down in the main vegie patch early this week so hopefully they'll get up and going before the cooler weather kicks in.

Summer Harvest: Tomatoes

Well, the 'silly season' is behind us for another year and I'm slowly finding a bit of time to sit down at the computer. There's been lots of fun stuff happening around here but let's start with the garden ...

I've had great luck with the tomatoes this year. I've been harvesting at least one or two everyday for the last few weeks. Not enough to be pushing them onto friends but enough to keep our bellies full :) And there's still heaps more ripening. These ones are 'Rouge de Marmande'.

I only planted eight plants this year but I keep finding 'volunteer' seedlings popping up from the half-rotted compost that I've spread around everywhere. This one crept it's way up through the corn and pumpkin vine and is looking very promising;

I was a little bit worried about them; soon after planting we got a LOT of rain. The plants out the back didn't seem too affected by it, but the couple out the front shot up nearly as high as my head (which isn't really all that high lol!) with soft, lush green growth. They looked lovely but in my experience tomato plants that take off so quickly and put all their energy into green growth seem to be the first ones that get attacked by the bugs! They didn't though, and apart from being bullied by some howling winds, they came through with plenty of fruit.
Next year I'll plant twice as many so I have some to give away :)

Forehead slap moment

Picture this scene, if you will ...

End of the week, food running low. Pay day just a few more sleeps and, more to the point, just can't be arsed going to the shops because I have to go Christmas Eve anyway so may as well stretch it out until then.

So what's for dinner?

Quiche? Nope, ran out of cheese with the avocado toasties for lunch.

Pasta? Again, no cheese :(

Brown rice salad? Yeah! Grab a handful of beans from the garden and a few shallots; if only I had some corn ...

'Whatcha doin mum?'

(Rummaging through the pantry muttering to myself) 'Looking for a tin of corn. I'm sure I had one in here.'

'What for?'

'For dinner.' More muttering ...

'Why? What's for dinner?'

'Bloody rice salad! Now help me find some corn or bugger off!'

'FINE I WILL!'

At this point I turn around to see my spectacularly serendipitous daughter stomp out of the kitchen; but not before she threw this completely ravaged corn cob on to the bench. This corn cob that she picked from the garden. Which is one of a shitload floating about the garden at the moment. And here I am, tearing the pantry apart to find corn.

Imbolc Stirrings

I was drawn outside in the wake of some heavy rain. Everything was so still ... calm before the August winds.

The sun is shining brighter everyday, slowly but surely gaining strength, warming the earth.

Stirrings in the belly of the goddess. She is awakening as the maiden and the mother, rejuvenated and youthful, ready to nurture the new life.

Slowly unfurling toward the warm sun.

Blessed be xo

Brrrrrrrr! An Update from Coolsville ;)

It's cold and wet and windy and we've been stuck inside for days. The wet washing is threatening to rise up and overtake the house and the kids are going a little bit crazy because we haven't been outside to play.
We've been staying in bed later and later and then we need to turn the lights on early in the afternoon because it's so dark.

Certainly not weather conducive to gardening! I managed to get out the back today for a short time in between the rain. It's so wet! The poor vegies look like they're about to float away.
It's too wet to plant anything unfortunately. Over the last few weeks I've been gifted lots of plants; a couple of avocado trees, some raspberries, a red cordyline, not to mention my broccoli seedlings that are patiently waiting to go in the ground, the pineapple tops that we sprouted still sitting on the kitchen bench and the poor lime trees that have been sitting miserably in their pots for way too long.

On a bright note, the zygo cactus' have started to flower. What beautiful intricate flowers to put some colour into the grey days!

And some jonquil bulbs from a friend last year have popped their little green heads up.

On the craft front: lots has been happening. One thing I do like about the cold weather; snuggling up with a crochet hook and loads of yarn! I've jumped on the Ravelry bandwagon so have loads of inspiration. This coupled with the fact that I was gifted loads of gorgeous yarn for my birthday on Monday has led to lots of projects being started.

Not a lot to report on the homeschool front. We were doing a lot of outside activities but the weather has put a stop on Indi's garden for the time being. The closest we've been to outside education is digging up worms to feed to Nim.
She has been very interested in earth sciences lately. We've been reading a book about the universe and our planet. I picked this book up in a second-hand shop a while ago (I have an addiction to those 70's style kiddie encyclopaedias ;) ) and it's been very useful.

Today we read and talked about how the earth spins on it's axis, creating day and night. Indi deduced that even though it's night time here, it's daytime on the other side of the earth. I showed her how the axis is tilted and, as the earth revolves around the sun, this is what causes the weather to change throughout the year. We also looked at how the moon 'changes' shape and why it does so. If this cloudy weather ever buggers off I'd like to create a moon calendar with her.

And finally, an update on the guinea pigs.
I'm sad to say that we lost another baby :( so just one little fella left. Worse still, one of my males died aswell. Just like Bali; he seemed fine in the morning when I went out and fed them but was dead by the afternoon :( .
The little baby seems to be doing great though. I still have him inside with Jazzy; he's very vocal and scampers around and eats with gusto, so I really hope he's going to be ok.

Dog Poo, Worms, and a Mexican Walking Fish

We recently acquired a Mexican Walking Fish named 'Nim' along with a fabulous tank, courtesy of Karisma (who most of you probably know from here). I've set the tank up in the kids' playroom; a great executive decision on my part, as I often find Keanu pressed up against the tank mesmerised by the little albino amphibian ...

Anywho, I digress. Nim came to us with the specific instruction that he only eats fresh food ie. worms. Being that my daughter is something of a bug fanatic, Aunty Karisma thought it perfect that Nim should come to live with us! So after about a week of plucking juicy big worms out of the garden I suddenly remembered about my worm farm!

About 18 months ago, I started an experimental worm farm to dispose of the dog poop. At the time we had four dogs and in a suburban backyard the poop was getting to be something of a problem. I didn't want to bag it in plastic and put it in the bin -- that, to me, is just the same as using 'disposable' nappies. I didn't want to compost it either, as we use the compost on edible crops and dog poop can carry all sorts of bacterial nasties that can be easily transferred to humans. After a bit of searching I deduced that worms could be used to compost poop ... so long as that's all they were fed (i.e. you can't feed them poop and vege scraps at the same time). So armed with a box of worms, a couple of styrafoam containers and a whole load of doggy doo I set up a little farm.
It started out veeeeery slowly; a few months in there seemed to be very little action. The poop didn't seem to be getting touched, and the worms didn't seem to be multiplying. The box got shoved in the back corner where it is nice and shady and that's where it stayed, full of poo, all but forgotten until we had to replace the fence. This meant that we had to clear up all the crap that had accumulated in those little-used corners of the yard. My brother and I went down to start moving it all, when he asked what to do with the styrofoam box.

'Chuck it' I said. 'It's full of dog poo; a failed experiment.'

'Are you sure? It doesn't look like dog poo ... it looks like pretty good soil.'

'What?'

Sure enough, there was little dog poo left in there and, when we turned it over a bit (with a shovel of course!) we found it to be FULL of big fat wriggly red worms!
So not-so-failed after all. We moved it out of the way with plans of extending it but again it kinda fell by the wayside. Until Nim came along ...

We trudged down to the back garden, wrestled with the grass (which is still threatening to strangle us even with this colder weather ... we have the greenest backyard in the suburb!) and found the styrafoam box ...

A thorough dig turned up absolutely no worms at all :( I guess they all left to find greener pastures -- or should that be browner pastures? He he he!
In their wake though is a box chocka block full of glorious dark worm castings ...

So this weekend I'm going to go buy another box of worms. I found a few more styrafoam boxes when we cleaned out the garage last weekend. We only have two dogs now, but that is still more poo than I'd like to be dodging when I go out the back! Once it's established again, we'll have an environmentally friendly way of disposing of dog poo which in turn provides a source of food for Nim who in turn provides nice fishy water that I can use on the garden!
Ahhhh ... biodiversity!

Baby Guinea Pig Love

Here are Bali's babies ... I'm such a sucker for baby guineas. I call them my 'turners' ... they turn my vege scraps into nice hot manure that keeps the compost heap warm over the cooler months ;)

Look at the beautiful colours in this little one! 

That's Bali, the light coloured one in the middle; Jazzy on the left, and Haania on the right

Little baby enjoying some grass with mumma Bali

munching with Aunty Jazzy :)

A Little Harvest

Ok, so my garden is nowhere near where I'd like it to be. Truth be known, my whole Alternative Suburbia dream is nowhere near where I'd like it to be!

 But tonight we ate stuff from the garden, and that makes me happy.

Nothing huge, just an eggplant and some basil, mixed with a jar of passata and some pasta. We didn't have a lot of money this week, so I'm raiding the cupboard to make a decent meal. So while I'm still working on providing the staples, the eggplant and basil certainly made a tasty contribution to dinner.

A Planting Tutorial by Indi

How to plant dwarf butter beans in your garden...

Step 1. Admire the colour and texture of the beans that look like little black beetles.

Step 2. Poke holes in the ground. Nothing quite like the feeling of dirt under your fingernails.

Step 3. Drop a shiny bean into the hole.

Step 4. Firm the soil down.

Step 5. Water well, and wait for the bean shoots to pop their little green heads out of the soil. Be sure and check every few minutes of the day ;)

Thankyou, Indi. 

Indica Rose's Garden

We have decided to keep the cubby as a play house, not a chook house. Indi and Keanu love playing in there and it makes it easier for me to do work in the backyard because they are amused--and distracted from the pool!
So, we put the verandah back on the front and Indi has decided she is going to make her own garden.

Putting the verandah on.

Once the verandah had been 'tested' by Keanu, we dug up a little patch along the front.

The first thing she planted ...

... a bromeliad that we'd split up the day before because they had outgrown their pot.

I'm really happy that she is enjoying being in the garden and getting her hands dirty. As for the chooks, well, I guess we'll have to think of another plan! 

Let's see whats growing

I'm stealing a few minutes to write while Keanu is having a feed (one-hand typing, so excuse any typos please!)

I've only just started getting out to the veggie patch and tidying things up, now that the weather is starting to cool off. The last few weeks of summer just kinda frazzled what was left in there. At this point, I'm planning on growing what I can over winter, then I might plant some fruit trees and turn it into an orchard. It's hard to get stuck into the garden with Keanu around; he just runs straight for the pool as soon as he is outside!

I've had to scratch all the mulch away when I plant things, because it is full of slaters and they love the taste of newly sprouted seedlings. It seems to have worked; the snow peas have all sprouted and are nearly an inch high. The last two lots I planted out were gone as soon as they popped out of the ground.

I've harvested a heap of burpless and crystal apple cucumbers  over the past few months. The vine grew right up through the star jasmine; so high I couldn't even reach the fruit at the top! I didn't get any pictures though - my camera is dying a slow and painful death and only works when it wants to.)

Here are my beautiful eggplants. I've planted these out the front. This is the first time I've grown them; they are such beautiful plants I just want to plant them everywhere. I've harvested a few fruits and I'm going to make a vegetarian lasagne with them this week.

And the bromeliads, bursting out with colour. This is my 'comfort' garden ... when everything else get eaten by the bugs I come and stare at this one! It always looks green and healthy.