Am I the only sucker to think “no-dig” meant “no work”? I’ve never worked harder in my life. I wish our bath was in working order, ‘cause I think a long hot soak would do me wonders. I’m supposed to be leading the service tomorrow. Wonder if anyone will mind if I’m sitting down? :-)

Still, it’s just about ready to be planted. Seems this morning The Man was thinking of something else (probably the sermon he’s supposed to give tomorrow that he hasn’t written any notes for yet), ‘cause something he said made me realise he wasn’t narky with me. He graciously went and got me a trailer load of cow poo; and then dug up a couple of wheelbarrow loads of the dirt from the chook yard. I don’t have any compost, so the chook yard dirt is my final layer. He’s now off getting dinner.

I think he’s just grateful this wasn’t a standard Susan Idea. They usually run “Hey honey, I have this great plan. It needs lots of muscles and hard yakka. Thank you honey.” LOL So far, aside from fetch and carry (and the chook dirt) I’ve done all the hard yakka.

No photos tonight, ‘cause I’ve only just come in and had a shower. Bit dark for photos of garden beds.

Also, planted some more jiffy pots of seeds. I have a basic plan of how many of what to plant each month. I’m not really on track. Need to be a little more systematic. Which reminds me, I’ve got silverbeet and beetroot seeds soaking, that are probably okay to plant now. BTW do you think tannin will affect them LOL. I sat the tissue paper they were wrapped in a saucer that is usually used for used tea bags and The Man dumped a tea bag on top of them.

The first year is always the hardest sue. Next year you’ll have the beds built, compost brewing and this years fertiliser will be broken down and working for ya.
I don’t think a bit of tea would hurt the seedlings.

I’m now just waiting for the rain to settle everything nicely.

I’ve lost a fair bit of planting area, ‘cause my sides all slope inwards. I’m looking at The Man’s scrap wood pile, and planning some sort of ‘box’ concept. I figure just a couple of planks (say 4 × 1/2) nailed to some wooden stakes, banged into the ground would work. They wouldn’t even need to but up against each other; just act as enough of a barrier so that I could layer all the way out with each layer. (Clear as mud?)

Josh made it look so easy to build it in the middle of the lawn and end up with vertical sides; but its really not that simple. STILL! It’s done for this season. I shall plant it out with seedlings next weekend; and then over the next couple of months put in my sides. As it settles and when I go to “top it up”, the sides should be in place and everything will be hunky dory.

You may (or may not) remember I have two beds. My main veg bed which I’ve now no-digged; and a bed that we’ve only just cleared out. I considered planting green manure crops in the new bed. Instead, I’ve moved the bottomless moveable container (big green thing in one of my photos) over it. Its about 1/2 the size of the bed; so I’ve filled it with no dig. When the crop is finished, I’ll simply lift it off and dig the remains into the soil. I may still end up no-digging that bed as well; but anything I add to the soil has to be a bonus ‘cause the soil is so dead at the moment.

While the container is busy growing stuff, over the rest of the bed I will scatter all my dead, dieing, not quite sure about seeds. Including several packets of radishes – simply because we don’t eat them; I can’t bring myself to chuck them; and they’re really too old to give away. With any luck I’ll also have a million lettuces LOL. No lettuces have poked up in my jiffy pots and they’re supposed to have a really short germination time. I have a commercial packet and also an envelope that came from “Freckles”. I have no idea what sort they might be. Funny looking seeds, lettuces.

Well, I’m going to try and catch up on posts; go take a shower; and maybe read a book or do some sewing.

SueBk said:

… an envelope that came from “Freckles”. I have no idea what sort they might be. Funny looking seeds, lettuces.

Freckles lettuce are easy to grow and yummy too. They are a small Cos style lettuce.

Huh! And I thought “Freckles” was the on-line name of whoever it was that sent them to me. Well, there you go! Learn something new every day. I wouldn’t mind a million baby cos type lettuces coming up.

I lurv no dig gardens as its a great way to feed the soil and not send stuff off to land fill:)

bluegreen said:

SueBk said:

… an envelope that came from “Freckles”. I have no idea what sort they might be. Funny looking seeds, lettuces.

Freckles lettuce are easy to grow and yummy too. They are a small Cos style lettuce.

Oh they are yummo and look FAB TAB growing out in the garden.

Well, let’s see if I’ve got the photo thing sorted:

The main veg patch, all no-digged. Planting to start next weekend.

New strawberries planted today. Not sure what type. Brown stuff in the watering bottle is left over seaweed solution.

2nd veg patch with moveable no-dig container all ready to go. Still have to finish the edging of the rest; and then scatter with misc seeds.

Seedlings; planted on 23 June. Looking at each column (top to bottom), from left to right:
cucumbers
tomato
broccoli (or maybe cauli)
cabbages in the middle; sunflowers in the front
broccoli / cauli at the back; silverbeet at the front
silverbeet
beetroot

Silverbeet, cabbages and beetroot have just started to get their true leaves; so may be ready to plant out next weekend. Otherwise, I’ll just plant some carrots.

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

One for the helper thread – just making sure the mix of cow poo and dirt is correct LOL.

My, you have been busy, Sue! I can see you will be a force to be reckoned with :)

bluegreen said:

SueBk said:

… an envelope that came from “Freckles”. I have no idea what sort they might be. Funny looking seeds, lettuces.

Freckles lettuce are easy to grow and yummy too. They are a small Cos style lettuce.

I had hundreds of these, they are nice and crop really well. I sowed too many seeds, thinking that they wouldn’t all germinate, and they did!!!
I’ve just pulled out the last of them, having finally gone to seed.

I’ve just been through my seeds. Most things that didn’t germinate from my 23/6 planting were given a 2nd chance yesterday. I planted 2, 3, 4 whatever I thought reasonable; and then everything left over went in a tub. I’ve got almost a full tub of seeds everything from radishes to sunflowers; peas to lettuce. If even 1/2 of it grows in that new bed I’ll be a busy girl.

I figure – at worst it all becomes green manure (well, at worst – nothing will germinate at all). At best, if I recognise something I can probably transplant it to the proper bed.

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

Was there a photo to go with this?

Yeehah said:

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

Was there a photo to go with this?

The envelope doesn’t show up for you? Computers – they’re so weird. It shows up for me.
envelope

SueBk said:

Yeehah said:

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

Was there a photo to go with this?

The envelope doesn’t show up for you? Computers – they’re so weird. It shows up for me.
envelope

I suspected as much, but the horrible scrawl confirms it – it was me :)

Bluegreen sent me some Freckles lettuce seed years and years ago, so they could be distant cousins.

SueBk said:

Yeehah said:

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

Was there a photo to go with this?

The envelope doesn’t show up for you? Computers – they’re so weird. It shows up for me.
envelope

I think someone sent me some as well. Can’t remember who.

Yeehah said:

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

I suspected as much, but the horrible scrawl confirms it – it was me :)

Bluegreen sent me some Freckles lettuce seed years and years ago, so they could be distant cousins.

Well, I have to confess – I never got around to planting them. I planted some on 23/6 and again yesterday; but the rest have gone in my ‘everything pot’. Maybe I’ll have millions of them come up yet LOL. Lettuce is good; I can do lettuce for lunch and dinner if not for breakfast LOL.

Yeehah said:

SueBk said:

Anyone recognise this handwriting? It is from a couple of years ago.

Was there a photo to go with this?

yea there was, looks good sue.

Well it never fails. This morning I put on clean jeans and clean shirt thinking that because its raining I wouldn’t be working in the garden. HUH! The rain stopped so I thought I’d check the progress of my seedlings. Got another garlic up; that’s 5 of the 12 I planted. For some reason I then got enthused. So much for clean clothes. Its incredibly humid here in west Bris today and I’m covered in lucerne fluff. I have; however, for my pains gained about 8 inches of planting space in my no dig.

The patch of dirt that is a slightly different colour (on the left hand side) is the area I’ve gained by putting in some mesh and corflute along the edge.

This is taken from the other side. It also gives some idea of the slope of our block. You’ll notice the tops of the bins, which are on the flat of the driveway are about level with the top of my no-dig. The no-dig is about that much lower again from the top of the driveway.

Guess I should go take a shower now :)

good to see a not too tidy, highly productive garden. the soil looks good, so it should produce well. you might have a bit of a problem with keeping the soil moist though, seen as it is raised so much. if that’s the case, you may like to pay heed to some of my raves about the wonders of bentonite clay soil amendment.
what’s the render mix on the outside of the retaining wall?…just want to know as i’m into that sort of thing.

aquarium said:

what’s the render mix on the outside of the retaining wall?…just want to know as i’m into that sort of thing.

Have no idea. The walls were here when we bought. I’d love to get rid of them, they look tacky. Red rocks, cemented together, often with more cement than rock, and then painted white. Horrid really. But it’s a time consuming and expensive job to replace, so for the moment, it stays.

This weekend I’m hoping to get some carrot seeds in the ground. Maybe put up a few more edges / supports for the garden so I can extend it further. I was quite amazed at just how much extra ground I gained this afternoon. My first couple of layers of the no-dig went right out to where I put the mesh, but by the time you get to the top there’s a gap of about 8 inches. If I could gain 8 inches all the way around the edges that would be a dozen or so more plants at least.

Someone looking at it today asked me why it’s a funny shape; sort of a bent “U”, or really just two big blobs with a teeny bit connecting them. The outside edge is determined by the existing retaining wall. I drew up the existing shape and then played with where I could put paths so everything was within 80cm of a path (a comfortable reaching distance) and the paths took up the least amount of room as possible. If I can put up more ‘retainers’ I can make those paths a lot narrower.

Got all my edges done yesterday. They will need replacing LOL, but they’re done for the moment. I decided the easiest way to create a ‘path’ in the middle was to build the whole thing up to same height and then use a couple of planks on top. Putting in sides was just too much effort. The lighter colour on top is basically the original no-dig I put in a couple of weeks ago; so I’ve gained a huge area for growing things. Given the amount of work I put in today lugging manure and soil and so forth, I think I may even have doubled my space.

(still haven’t worked out how to put in the small link photos; sorry). Dotted some marigolds around the edge. Want to get those bees in and working LOL.

Garlic. 8 up out of 12 planted. Not bad. Now to see if we get 8 garlics at the end of the season!

My herbs chugging along nicely. Coriander is thriving – a first for me. Parsley really needs a tabouli or something similar happening.

Seedlings. I’ll probably plant out some of the ones of the right next weekend. The silverbeet and beetroot. I’ll see what’s looking strong

I am BEAT! Muscles just at the top of my buns are killing me – all that up and down the levels. Nothing like a sloped block to keep you fit! For the first time in my life I’ve got muscles in my arms.

Looking forward to next weekend. Then the REAL fun starts!

Looks great Sue:)

Aren’t those hot houses great??? I have just bought a new one the other week.

Good work, Sue. It’s all looking ready to power off!

(still haven’t worked out how to put in the small link photos; sorry)

Do you use photobucket?

Given the amount of work I put in today lugging manure and soil and so forth, I think I may even have doubled my space.
—————————-
you must be happy with the no-dig – you appear to have at least 300mm of good soil there.

Now I have this link photo thing worked out; here’s a (hopefully) progressive view of my no-dig.

Top picture – no no-dig. Just the bare dirt. Think there might be a white string line showing where I hoped to have paths.
Next – no dig with no edges. Decided this ended up just too small a planting area with the slope of the sides
Third – Wednesday (sheesh, was it only Wednesday?) the first bit of edging went in and then I ran out of manure.
Last – today’s final effort.

They’re not exactly the same angle, but near enough to see the change. Can’t wait til I’ve got photos of green stuff in the same position that I can post :-))

Stuffed up the order. Dang.

The last photo is actually the original plot.

A couple of my sugar snap peas are showing. Just as I was about to give up on them. Have to consider how I’m going to support them. If you look closely at the photos, I did have a wire fence section, but I removed it. I put it up because the two pine poles were already there, but I realised when building in the sides that it was actually a pain in the proverbial. Guess I’ll get myself some long stakes and some string or wire netting.

I was thinking of erecting a mesh arch for my cucumbers, and then planting out my more wintery veg like broccoli and caulis under it. When the sun starts to get bit hotter come Oct/Nov they should stay protected. Any thoughts?

SueBk said:

A couple of my sugar snap peas are showing. Just as I was about to give up on them. Have to consider how I’m going to support them. If you look closely at the photos, I did have a wire fence section, but I removed it. I put it up because the two pine poles were already there, but I realised when building in the sides that it was actually a pain in the proverbial. Guess I’ll get myself some long stakes and some string or wire netting.

I was thinking of erecting a mesh arch for my cucumbers, and then planting out my more wintery veg like broccoli and caulis under it. When the sun starts to get bit hotter come Oct/Nov they should stay protected. Any thoughts?

i like height in a garden – it adds interest, mystery, shade, wind protection and forms microclimates. so any thing that will grow up (your peas, cucumbers are good – but also beans, tomatoes, capsicum and sweet potatoes) should be trained onto trellises.
broccoli and cabbages are available in summer varieties. mini caulis might be better than ‘paleface’ in summer.?

It’s supposed to be “nice” this afternoon. LIARS! But I’ve been back outside anyway. Planted out all the seedlings that I planted late June. Cucumbers, tomatoes, cauli, broccoli, cabbage, silverbeet and beetroot. My garden is beginning to look like vegie garden. Couldn’t quite work out how to best fit an arch in my patch, so I’ve planted the cucumbers so they’ll shield the peas and bassica from the afternoon sun come spring/summer. Might lengthen the season just a little.

But its all experiment at the moment. Haven’t really got a clue what I’m doing. I’m more of a book learner than a doer, so this really is a new experience for me.

You may think you don’t know what you’re doing Sue, but it all sounds good to me! You’ll be so proud of yourself when you and the family are eating home-grown vegies!

But its all experiment at the moment. Haven’t really got a clue what I’m doing. I’m more of a book learner than a doer, so this really is a new experience for me.
——————-
after thirty years of doing it i still don’t have a clue what i’m doing.
just keep planting – you will find what plants grow naturally well in your area,