| The "Oriental Plane" trees are
currently shedding their leaves all over town in our streets and the tip is they make
great compost, provided you windrow them and run a mower over them. That breaks them up
and speeds up their composting. Best leaves of all
are yet to fall though. The "English Oak" leaves even when used as mulch without
composting keep slugs and snails off you seedlings. However when shredded it is easier to
handle and doesn’t blow around.
If you have a patch that you are keen to turn into a
vegetable garden, sharpen up the spade and dig it now. The soil is heavenly to work after
the recent rains and cool nights. If working old soil for the first time in a while leave
it rough and spread gypsum over it at the rate of 300 grams per square metre. That sounds
a lot and it is, but it makes clay into workable loam!
I bought a stainless steel spade and a stainless steel fork
last week. Would you believe the spade was a Spear & Jackson (world’s best spade)
and the fork was made by the same factory, but branded differently and the pair cost
$72.00 at Harris Scarfes. Admittedly they had poly handles, but then a Hickory handle is
hardly worth the extra $100.00 per item.
I’ve found the very best place to grow red-hot chilli
peppers. In my back yard, my Jack Russell eats them, heavens only knows why, so I have to
grow them in pots that sit on top of the barbecue most of the time, so I planted some in
my nature strip garden out front. They’ve thrived and to my surprise no one is
picking them. I’m surprised, because the locals don’t seem to mind picking the
flowers, but not the chillies. Anyhow I’m grateful, so thanks folks.
Has anyone had trouble with their parsley being grazed to a
stump? I cannot find the culprit. It’s not my dog or insects, that I can detect. It
may be a rat, although I’ve never heard of such desperation to get a fix of folic
acid, in a single feast. |
