digging in the rain

Ok, so it is raining and apparentrly will continue to rain until the next millenium. So what? Well, I can't plant in the heavy rain for these reasons:

• rain increases the chances of soil compaction

dpi.nsw.gov.au

• when the soil dries, a crust forms over the top preventing some seeds from germinating



ipm.iastate.edu

• heavy rain can change the soil structure - especially in a heavy soil like Tamborine volcanic soil



fao.org

• the soil sticks to everything when it is wet - I will end up with more on me than in the patch!

So! I wait and wait and wait and hope I can get some food into the ground before too much longer.

prepared earlier!

plotting and planning

The winter season is over. As soon as it stops raining, I have to remove all the spent growth and prepare for the next planting. There are a few broc and cabbages still to mature, but then it will be bye-bye cool crops hello warm crops.

My big decision this year - NO tomatoes. I can not win the battle against the birds and my neighbour excels at growing tomatoes.

I am going hard on the lettuce, carrots, capsicum and eggplant. These are my staples, along with parsley and garlic and chillies.

Will also soon be time to harvest my garlic... hope it turns out. There is a heap of it.

BTW, found the sneaky culprit who has attached  my purple podded peas.... king parrots, just as I suspected. Just as well they are so bloody beautiful!