All is Good in the Garden

Today was one of those days I walked around the back yard and thought "yeah, actually things are going pretty well". The sun was shining and things are growing again.

The seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago here are coming up great - all 4 types of beans, 2 types of tomatoes, beetroot, vegetable spaghetti, basil and peppermint. Even one of the watermelon seeds is peeping out early.

The potatoes are showing through the mulch in my trial-spud-sacks .......

And the second 'patch' we started a couple of weeks ago in our bare centre of the garden is looking ok, instant green at the front with lots of herbs that were outgrowing their pots, and a few new ones I bought from the Gardening Australia expo including this Chocolate Mint .....

I don't know what I will use it for, but doesn't it sounds great? And it smells exactly like one of those after-dinner mints!

I also put in 2 rows of mixed lettuce and a row of parsley from my saved seed. Parsley is slow to germinate, but hopefully there will be a mass of green by the summer!

And these new plants in our old patch - some rhubarb kindly given by a lovely friend who was moving house, they have settled in nicely and I made rhubarb muffins the same day I planted them in! I'll give them a rest now to grow a bit before harvesting again.

We planted this beautiful wax flower years ago as a tiny plant, its now taller than me and about 2 metres across, and fills the garden with a lovely scent. Luckily for us, it is one of those plants that thrives on neglect! It is an aussie native and has never been watered other than the rainfall we get. So pretty.

Even the chooks are happy ..... although their needs are few .....warm safe house, bit of space and exercise, food and water ..... and they are giving us around 12 eggs a week between the 3 of them (although one is laying as much as the other two!) They didn't even stop laying all through the winter which most chooks do. They are such great pets.

All was good today in the garden of Mountain Wildlife...... :-)

Native slope regeneration

This week saw the end of year for our native gardening course. It is run by TAFE NSW as an outreach course one morning each week, which has been perfect for me as I wasn't able to attend the college. Our small group has been weeding, planning, planting and mulching on a steep slope, which was initially covered thickly with weeds.

As well as the practical work, we spent time each week in the 'classroom' learning about and discussing native plants, soils, pests (the garden type!) non-chemical weed control, encouraging wildlife, choosing site-appropriate plants, pruning, composting, seed saving, water issues, mulching etc.

I have learnt so much this year, and met some lovely people too. I will be going back for one term next year, as I started in term 2, and hope that we can finish the site.

The photo shows some of the site - a 'swale' area was incorporated to reduce soil erosion and water runoff, and has worked really well. There is an area beyond the native grasses almost as wide as the front area, also planted with appropriate native trees and shrubs.

Unfortunately I don't have a 'before' photo, but the whole hillside was thick with coreopsis, dandelions and other weeds.

No chemicals were used as the area is adjacent to a pre-school and other childrens services, and is home to numerous wildlife such as lizards and frogs.