SOILS ain't soils

IT seems crazy with all the rain we having down south to think about the long, hot summer ahead.

But it's coming, according to those lovable weather boffins at the BOM and Sir Peter Cundall.

So now is the time to turn over the compost that's been festering and bubbling away all winter and get ready to enrich and mulch your soil.

This weekend I'll compartment off my new veggie beds and keep the chooks in a section to have them fertilise and turn the soil over.

Last week I had two dangerously rotted gum trees removed and the workman kindly left behind the sawdust - but it's so saturated with eucalyptus oil which is a plant suppressant I'll have to dilute it through the compost bins before using in the garden.

While I'll probably have to wear gumboots and a rain-coat to do the weeding, I know come December I'll be glad I persevered.

Comfrey and Joy

Rich in nitrogen and potassium, comfrey is a great herb to grow as it's a proven compost activator.

Not only will it enrich your compost heap by breaking down the ingredients, it’s also a great mulch as containing so much nitrogen, when decomposing it will not leach it from the soil as does high-carbon mulches like straw and leaves.

Comfrey’s high potassium content helps to increase flower and fruit production making it especially beneficial for flowers (attracting those fabulous bees), fruiting vegetables (such as beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cucumbers), berries, and fruit trees. 

I’ve heard anecdotally from other greenthumbs using comfrey to mulch root crops such as parsnips and carrots or leafy greens like lettuce, tatsoi and spinach may encourage them to go to seed prematurely.

Hens like it too! I also pick fresh bunches for my chooks who enjoy the occasional peck.

It does die back in winter but will zip back into life come spring.

Beware, it can take over so I try to keep it in the areas when I ave my compost bins. Everytime I add some vegies, paper or green waste to one of my seven compost bins, a few comfrey leaves are added. 

Rain, glorious rain!

Waking up to pelting rain on the roof it’s very tempting to just roll over and return to the land of dreams. But persevere, because rainy days in the garden are a bonus.

Sure, the chooks resemble sodden, feathered rats and water trickles down your neck or gumboots at least provocation, but it’s a good time to snare snails, check which areas of the garden are not getting watered due to overhanging branches or undulations in the soil and combat those that flood.

Last year when it seemed to bucket down for days on end, I noticed that due to a slope I had not really paid attention to before, the excess water was collecting in the lower right hand back corner of my garden. This is where the chooks are penned and they were not impressed. Fortunately, their coop sits on stumps around 30 cm high, so the girls didn’t need gumboots, but it was a call to action.

On the advice of a plumber mate I dug a one meter square pit into the compacted clay soil (it took simply ages and all I can say is that it was good for upper body-buildng) and filled it will scorier – now the water drains into the roots of the darn leviathan Cyprus pine next door which I swear has grown twice my height since. On the plus side, the path I also put in which leads down to the pit and is covered in crushed cement pebbles, remains drained and dry despite the worst flooding. I did put down sand first but this just swam away somewhere during the next shower.

Putting in the new path and pit by cluckingham palace to keep the girls dry.

Keep your thumbs green when it pours:

* Don your raincoat and go looking for snails. Collect them in a bucket and feed them to your chooks- they love ‘em!

* Sharpen and oil tools. Yes, your metal spade, rake, trimmers, secateurs and trowel all need some TLC about now.

* Pull on some rubber gloves and clean out your gutters and drains and add the wonderful, rich leaf mulch to your compost.

* Check your worm farm and compost bins are not waterlogged.

* Tidy the garden shed – or in my case, I have no excuse for not clearing out all the gardening junk hiding under the deck. Wear gloves, it's spider time.

* Do an inventory on what you need to get from spring – bulbs, seeds, new tools?

* Every now and again look up at those big black clouds and appreciate what falling out of them. Remember the drought?

Beat the heat

NYE 2010 was hot and windy end to 2010, taking its toll on some of the pumpkin and zucchini plants.

Not to mention the gardener!

Despite a long sleeved shirt, hat, sunblock and loads of water, the compost chick correspondent felt the heat as much as any vegetable.

Despite a deep watering that morning and loads of straw, we all took a bit of battering with the hot, whippy northerlies.

The chooks were keen to get out and about but I kept them in their run as it was windy enough to give them all the left they needed. I had visions of them flying off over the fence and chasing after agitated poultry was not on my agenda. The girls have a surprisingly quick turn of speed. Not to mention that some of our neighbours have dogs (well behaved I am sure but why put temptation of a plump little chicken in their path?)

Today looks like another shocker ahead. So deep watering, extra straw and mulch is in my arsenal to beat the heat. I’m sure I’ll lose one or two plants but they may have already been suffering heat-stress, so I can live with this.

One positive it that this weather also kills off some snails!

My garden shows the result of NYE hot winds.